I think it would be great if any shield law includes the provision “you may sue if you’ve fully given up your own use of fossil fuels and made your own life carbon neutral”
The Latest Front in the Battle Over Climate Lawsuits: Bills Wiping Out Liability
Republican lawmakers in multiple states and Congress are advancing proposals to shield polluters from climate accountability and prevent any type of liability for climate change harms—even as these harms and their associated costs continue to mount.
It’s the latest in a counter-offensive that has unfolded on multiple fronts, from the halls of Congress and the White House to courts and state attorneys general offices across the country.
Dozens of local communities, states and individuals are suing major oil and gas companies and their trade associations over rising climate costs and for allegedly lying to consumers about climate change risks and solutions. At the same time, some states are enacting or considering laws modeled after the federal Superfund program that would impose retroactive liability on large fossil fuel producers and levy a one-time charge on them to help fund climate adaptation and resiliency measures.
But many of these cases and climate superfund laws could be stopped in their tracks, either by the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court or by the Republican-controlled Congress.
I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again: the defense and even the judges should be asking the plaintiffs “do you still use fossil fuels?” And that any fossil fuels company should stop selling their goods to the entities that are suing them.
Last month the court decided to take up a petition lodged by oil companies Suncor and ExxonMobil in a climate-damages case brought against the companies by Boulder, Colorado. The petition argues that Boulder’s claims are barred by federal law, and if the justices agree, it could knock out not only Boulder’s lawsuit but also many others like it. The court is expected to hear the case during its upcoming term that starts in October.
There is also a possibility that Republicans in Congress will take action before then to gift the fossil fuel industry legal immunity, similar to that granted to gun manufacturers with the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Sixteen Republican attorneys general wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in June suggesting that the Department of Justice could recommend legislation creating precisely this type of liability shield. And last month, one Republican congresswoman announced that such legislation is indeed in the works.
Or, hey, how about a federal law stating that any entity suing must give up their use of fossil fuels?
It’s 31.1º F outside, with a wind chill of 25.5º, an inch of snow on the ground, and still snowing. Where’s my global warming?!?
I had to go back into the crawlspace, to shut off water to the exterior hose bib, and make sure the crawlspace heater was plugged in.
Goracle said to expect more extremes in weather as the temps go up you seem to have forgotten that.
When the Arctic hears up it pushes polar vortex south
“Said to expect” means nothing.