A nuisance and trespassing tort claims suit brought by the city of New York against a number of energy companies over their role in climate change represented a repackaged federal common-law case that was more appropriately handled by the other branches of government rather than the courts, or the Environmental Protection Agency, which Congress empowered to regulate just the issues brought up in the suit.

This was the argument Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Theodore Boutrous Jr., speaking on behalf of the defendant energy companies, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhilips and Exxon Mobil, made to U.S. District Judge John Keenan of the Southern District of New York during a hearing on the motion Tuesday.