(TargetLiberty.org) – On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed lawsuits brought by municipalities who are looking to hold energy companies accountable for climate change to move forth.
The court dismissed the oil company’s appeals in five cases involving allegations brought forth by cities and municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawaii, and Rhode Island. The lawsuits aim to hold businesses accountable for climate change.
One of the issues regarding these cases is whether the lawsuits should be heard in a state or federal court. This is important because litigants believe that plaintiffs have better odds of winning the damages case if it is heard in state courts.
Richard Wiles, the president of the Center for Climate Integrity, an environmental group, argued that Big Oil companies have been desperately attempting to avoid trials in state courts because, in a state court, they would need to “defend their climate lies in front of juries.” He added that the Supreme Court’s decision meant that they would not be able to avoid it now.
Business groups noted their disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision, with Phil Goldberg, a lawyer with the National Association of Manufacturers’ legal arm, stating that climate change is something that should be handled at a national and international level. He added that the climate change crisis should be focused on “developing technologies and public policies” that would help improve the way energy is used in the world and that they should not be focused on how to “monetize climate change” in lawsuits that don’t help contribute solutions.
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