Court dismisses global warming case against Big OilOriginal post:
I haven't seen this story anywhere.
From Point of Law:
U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong has dismissed the federal public nuisance lawsuit filed by the Alaskan native village of Kivalina against oil, coal and power companies, concluding the question of global warming's damage to the environment is appropriately left in the political sphere.
In an order filed September 30, Judge Armstrong of the Northern District of California granted the defendants' motions:
In their Rule 12(b)(1) motions, Defendants contend that Plaintiffs' claims are not justiciable under the political question doctrine, and that Plaintiffs otherwise lack standing under Article III of the United States Constitution. Having read and considered the papers filed in connection with this matter, and being fully informed, the Court hereby GRANTS Defendants' motions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.Judge Armstrong clearly distinguishes the claims made by the Kivalina plaintiffs from those in the Connecticut v. American Electric Power case (opinion) decided September 21 by the Second Circuit, a federal public nuisance suit brought against power companies by several states and an environmental group.
Based on the judiciary's history of addressing "new and complex problems," including those concerning environmental pollution, the [Second Circuit] court concluded that "[w]ell-settled principles of tort and public nuisance law provide appropriate guidance to the district court in assessing Plaintiffs' claims and federal courts are competent to deal with these issues" such that their global warming concerns can "be addressed through principled adjudication." This Court is not so sanguine. While such principles may provide sufficient guidance in some novel cases, this is not one of them....MORE
I just happened upon it while looking for their Jeff Skilling/Enron post.
