The U.S. Supreme Court has been mostly reluctant to intervene in climate change litigation, but 15 oil and gas companies have told the justices they can no longer wait as dozens of similar lawsuits now proceeding in state courts threaten billions of dollars in damages against Big Oil.

“The stakes in this case could not be higher,” Exxon, Sunoco, Chevron and others told the court in a petition for review filed this week. “Over two dozen cases have been filed by various States and municipalities across the country seeking to impose untold damages on energy companies for the physical and economic effects of climate change.”