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Alaskan village sues Big Fossil Fuel over link to climate change

Posted at 10:35 AM on 27 Feb 2008

The tiny village of Kivalina, built on a barrier reef in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against 24 oil, coal, and power companies, alleging that Big Fossil Fuel's greenhouse-gas emissions are contributing to the climate-change-caused coastal erosion that threatens the village's very existence. Kivalina says that the companies should pay for its relocation. The lawsuit also accuses eight of the companies of conspiracy to "create a false scientific debate" and "mislead the public about the science of global warming."

sources: Anchorage Daily News, The New York Times, Canadian Press
see also, in Grist: Hearing held on Inuit climate and human-rights claim against U.S.

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Comments: (2 comments)

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Most likely won't work...

...even if the courts agree that global warming is the cause, the companies will probably rely on the defense that it'd be unfair to target just them specifically when it couldn't be proven that their emissions alone or their emissions in particular were responsible for the action as a whole, or how much their emissions contributed to the problem.

Still, it could be important symbolism and encourage other such actions in the future (or discourage such actions if they don't win, maybe?). And if nothin' else, it puts a face on the human victims of global warming for all the media that will follow the case.

by Tasermons Partner at 2:45 PM on 27 Feb 2008

Too Much "Free" Speech

The companies will almost certainly use the First Amendment to defend against the claims listed here. Unfortunately the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to allow lying (one could still be sued for defamation, but the government is not allowed to prevent false information from being disseminated). Just another example of how the courts favor the rich and powerful to the detriment of the environment and everyone else.

Another problem is corporate personhood. If corporations were not considered legal persons, they could be legally constrained from disseminating information that's harmful. Lots of problems to solve and not much time.

by Wolverine at 3:01 PM on 27 Feb 2008

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