Oct 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked

President Joe Biden's administration to weigh in on whether the

justices should allow 19 Republican-led states to try to block

five Democratic-led states from pursuing lawsuits over climate

change against major oil and gas companies in state courts.

The request for input from U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth

Prelogar on the first day of the Supreme Court's new term came

in a case Republican state attorneys general filed in May that

experts had previously called a long shot.

The Democratic-led states have noted that the Supreme Court

has previously rejected bids by oil companies to move several

such lawsuits to federal court, after numerous U.S. appeals

courts said the claims are not preempted by federal law.

Prelogar had weighed in on that issue as well and had

successfully urged the justices to reject the oil companies'

appeals.

The state attorneys general, led by Alabama Attorney General

Steven Marshall, took aim at lawsuits that Democratic-led

California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island

had filed against companies, including Exxon,

ConocoPhillips ( COP ), Shell and BP.

The state court lawsuits generally accuse the energy

companies of creating a public nuisance or violating state laws

by concealing from the public for decades the fact that burning

fossil fuels would lead to climate change.

The Republican-led states argued that by suing major energy

companies in state court seeking damages for the harms of

climate change, the Democratic-led states are essentially trying

to regulate global emissions and the U.S. energy system.

Only the federal government can regulate interstate gas

emissions and Democratic-led states have exceeded their

authority by seeking "sweeping injunctive relief or a

catastrophic damages award that could restructure the national

energy system," the Republican-led states argued.

The case was filed directly with the U.S. Supreme Court,

which has a 6-3 conservative majority. Under the U.S.

Constitution, the high court has "original jurisdiction" in a

small set of cases pitting states against states.

The Democratic-led states led by California Attorney General

Rob Bonta in a brief filed in August called their Republican

counterparts' case "novel and meritless" and said it rested on a

misunderstanding of their climate change lawsuits.

They argued the lawsuits did not seek to impose liability on

oil companies based on their fossil fuel production generally

but instead sought to "address local harms resulting from

unlawful deceptive conduct by private defendants."

The Supreme Court in June separately asked Prelogar to weigh

in on whether to hear an appeal by Exxon, Chevron ( CVX ) and Sunoco ( SUN ) of

a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling allowing Honolulu's lawsuit

alleging the companies to proceed to trial. Her office has yet

to file a brief in that case, which remains pending.

The case is Alabama v. California, U.S. Supreme Court, No.

22O158.

For the challengers: Edmund LaCour of the Alabama Attorney

General's Office

For the defendants: Julie Veroff of the California

Department of Justice

Read more:

Republican-led states ask Supreme Court to quash Big Oil

climate lawsuits

Exxon, Chevron ( CVX ) ask US Supreme Court to toss ruling in

Honolulu climate change suit

US Supreme Court rebuffs Exxon, Chevron ( CVX ) appeals in climate

cases

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston)