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I expect activists to believe their propaganda, but not well-respected law school faculty. Denise Antolini could not be more wrong in saying that suing energy manufacturers over global climate change was somehow “tried-and-true” (“Climate change litigation for Hawaii?,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, May Opens in a new tab5) Opens in a new tab.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2011, warned against any such lawsuits, saying there is “no room” for litigation over climate change public policy. Since then, several federal courts and judges have refused to blame America’s energy manufacturers for global climate change, saying there is no legal wrong that needs to be remedied.
The better path is for communities to join manufacturers who are working on new technologies for reducing climate change emissions and impacts. Innovation, not baseless lawsuits, has always been the way our country has brought about the type of societal- wide advancements needed here.
Phil Goldberg
Special counsel to the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project
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