Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse gas emitters

[kpete]

Source: AFP


Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse gas emitters
AFP

Thu Mar 4, 12:47 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Victims of Hurricane Katrina are seeking to sue carbon gas-emitting multinationals for helping fuel global warming and boosting the devastating 2005 storm, legal documents showed.

The class action suit brought by residents from southern Mississippi, which was ravaged by hurricane-force winds and driving rains, was first filed just weeks after the August 2005 storm hit.

"The plaintiffs allege that defendants' operation of energy, fossil fuels, and chemical industries in the United States caused the emission of greenhouse gasses that contributed to global warming," say the documents seen by AFP.

The increase in global surface air and water temperatures "in turn caused a rise in sea levels and added to the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina, which combined to destroy the plaintiffs' private property, as well as public property useful to them."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100304/ts_alt_afp/environmentclimatewarminguscourt

[WriteDown]

1. For pity's sake....

:eyes:

[protocol rv]

6. In the US one can sue for anything

But will they win anything? :-)

[SpiralHawk]

2. Can they prove their case in court?

This will be interesting...

I think they are right, but they have to prove it to a judge...the megacorp CITIZENS will fight this tooth and nail...because unlike real citizens (human beings) they do not do 'the responsibility thing.'

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

8. No, it is pretty much settled that the science doesn't support their case.

[SpiralHawk]

9. Says who? Some corporation trying to escape responsibility?

If you got some facts or data, let's see a link...and not to RepubliMegaCorp BS Inc., either

[joeglow3]

12. Unfortunately, the burden of proof is on them.

And given that we have seen no Katrina's since then (despite the environment getting raped even more), they will be fighting an uphill battle.

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

13. No, hurricanes and climate change. Read the literature.

While climate change has affected a lot of things, the scientific literature is pretty clear that there is no meaningful correlation with hurricanes hitting Louisiana and recent climate change. It is not a contested point.

That aside, even if there *was* a correlation, the lawsuit would and should fail. There is no way to disambiguate any nominal direct harm. Individual contributions are harmless, otherwise you could be sued for exhaling CO2.

[Rebubula]

3. Oh....

..dear god.....

And yet...it has been quiet since then....

[bighart]

4. Wouldn't they need to sue every citizen of the US that

owns a car or has electricity as we all contribute to the problem?

[Javaman]

14. I know, would they themselves be named in the suit, as well? nt

[slackmaster]

5. They should at least wait until summer

Anthropogenic global warming is a hard sell in the Northern Hemisphere in March.

[fascisthunter]

7. THIS is what the Energy Industry worried about all along

accountability

[One_Life_To_Give]

10. Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi Flood Control projects

Shouldn't be to difficult to deflect. The loss of the Delta was one of the principal contributing factors in the Storm strength in New Orleans. And the loss of the Delta has been tied to the various Flood Control Projects implemented along the length of the River.

[timo]

11. what about

china and india, afterall it is "GLOBAL WARMING" !!!!