Lawsuits place global warming on more dockets

The lawsuit seeks damages from a group of 33 energy companies, including ExxonMobil and coal giant Peabody Energy, electric utilities, and other conglomerates for allegedly emitting greenhouse gases that the litigants say contributed to global warming. That, the litigants claim, caused a rise in sea levels and increased air and water temperatures fueling the Category 5 hurricane that destroyed their homes. The lawsuit, considered a long shot by legal experts, cleared a hurdle last month when a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said it could continue, overruling a circuit court judge who had agreed with arguments from the companies that global warming is a political, not legal, issue. The Mississippi case is one of a small number of global warming cases to test the judiciary's role in the climate debate. •In September, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals made a similar finding in the case of Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co., siding with a coalition of eight states, New York City, and three land trusts in their lawsuit against several coal-burning utilities for emissions. The lawsuit asks the court for an injunction capping emissions from the companies, claiming the gases are a "public nuisance." The case was dismissed at the district level on grounds that it was political, but on appeal, a two-judge panel disagreed. •Also in September, a federal judge in the Northern District Court of California dismissed a lawsuit brought by the tribal Alaskan village of Kivalina against 24 energy companies. Villagers are seeking $400 million in damages from the companies, claiming global warming had made their village uninhabitable...read more