#climate-litigation

#climate-litigation

A similar proposal in Utah would block lawsuits over climate-warming emissions, unless a court finds the defendant violated a statute or permit. I think anyone in America who breathes the air around them and also believes in corporate accountability ought to be very concerned about these types of end-runs against accountability, said Jay Inslee, the former governor of Washington state and a former trial attorney.

But that began to change in 2015, when oil and gas drillers started fracking operations in the state's northwest corner, known as the Greater Chaco Landscape. Soon, Atencio's grandmother's land was surrounded by noise and air pollution. In 2019, both the land and the water beneath it were contaminated by massive spills that leaked thousands of gallons of oil. Once-abundant plants, including traditional medicinal herbs, no longer grew on the land, and rare birds and wildlife were disappearing, too.

On August 9 and 10, a massive storm over southeastern Wisconsin dropped up to 13 inches of rain in just a few hours, sending floodwater gushing downriver and destroying more than 1,800 homes in Milwaukee. The disaster was the second-worst two-day rain event in the United States since 1871. "For years, scientists have warned about what can happen when climate change supercharges extreme weather events. This is exactly what they meant," the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reported, describing the disaster as a 1,000-year flood.