This may be seen more and more and may help force drastic changes in carbon capture and storage.
Lawyers for the Alaska Native coastal village of Kivalina, which is being forced to relocate because of flooding caused by the changing Arctic climate, filed suit in U.S. court here Tuesday arguing that 5 oil companies, 14 electric utilities and the country’s largest coal company were responsible for the village’s woes.
The suit is the latest effort to hold companies like BP America, Chevron, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy and the Southern Company responsible for the impact of global warming because they emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases, or, in the case of Peabody, mine and market carbon-laden coal that is burned by others. It accused the companies of creating a public nuisance.
Additionally, the suit claims that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy of disinformation about the seriousness of global warming. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as other suits have been deemed political and thrown out. This suit may have a chance as they can show significant damages in the cost of relocating.
