The abject failures of our national and international political institutions to take effective action to protect our children and grandchildren from the dangers of man-made global warming requires pursuit of alternative strategies. Hence the need to explore the creative use of the legal system as a source of potential remedies.
I credit James Hansen for the inspiration to start this thread. In a recent blog post he noted that:
The potential roles for the legal system in combatting climate change and related malfeasance are legion, and have been touched upon in a number of threads. Some options could include:
Any thoughts?
I credit James Hansen for the inspiration to start this thread. In a recent blog post he noted that:
See: Assuring Real Progress on Climate"The judiciary is less affected by lobbying and is sometimes able to take a longer view than the legislative and executive branches of government."
The potential roles for the legal system in combatting climate change and related malfeasance are legion, and have been touched upon in a number of threads. Some options could include:
- Actions against polluters for their emissions and the resulting damage (under nuisance or other legal theories).
- Actions against state and federal government agencies for their failures to discharge their statutory or regulatory obligations.
- Actions demanding that states, such as New York, New Jersey and Louisiana use their parens patriae powers to bring claims against those who are principal contributors to climate change (and potentially to the disinformation campaigns that facilitate the continuing emissions).
- Demands that the FTC and states use their extensive investigative powers under Section 5 of the FTC Act (and the corresponding provisions in state laws) to pursue those promulgating denier disinformation.
- Action on similar grounds (i.e., for misrepresentations) in states, such as California, which permit such actions to be brought.
- Actions pursue information about inappropriate campaign contributions and other similar activities under various campaign finance, freedom of information and lobbyist registration laws.
- Demand that the SEC investigate the adequacy of the disclosure by fossil fuel companies of their indirect contributions to denier organizations.
- Securities law actions under Rule 10b-5 claims for material non-disclosure relating to either inadequate treatment of climate change risks to enterprise value or the support of denier activities.
Any thoughts?