By Phil Goldberg Advocacy groups and elected leaders are trying to weaponize consumer protection acts around the country to open new, national public-policy branches of government: state and local courts. Consumer protection lawsuits are filed—not to protect local consumers—but skirt Congress, state legislatures and regulatory agencies to drive national policy agendas. These cases often involve ….
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By Phil GoldbergApril 20, 2023 The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide, as early as April 21, whether to review lawsuits that are trying to remake America’s climate policy through litigation. The precise legal question is procedural—whether lawsuits seeking to make energy producers liable for climate change should be heard in federal or state courts—but ….
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By Phil Goldberg The US Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a lawsuit that could have significant adverse implications for America’s energy and climate policy over the next decade. The lawsuit, filed by Boulder, Colo. in state court, is part of a national effort to blame climate change on energy companies by making them ….
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On October 27, Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy assembled a panel of experts to discuss and debate the shortcomings and merits of municipal climate litigation. This event, titled “Municipal Climate Litigation in California: Should the Courts or Policymakers Address Climate-Related Damages and Solutions?” was moderated by Pete Peterson, Dean of the School of Public ….
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by Phil Goldberg When the U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes at the end of this month, it will consider whether to hear a lawsuit that could have significant adverse implications for America’s energy and climate policy over the next decade. The case was filed by Boulder and other governments in Colorado, and it names Suncor USA ….
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by Phil Goldberg For years, there has been a largely unsuccessful effort to turn public nuisance into a “super tort” for suing manufacturers over a variety of political, social and environmental issues that are fundamentally legislative or regulatory in nature. This super tort theory is the legal idea that has been at the heart of ….
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Boulder and a few other local governments in Colorado are suing Suncor USA and ExxonMobil in state court, trying to hold the two companies legally liable for causing climate change and make them pay for infrastructure improvements in these localities. This lawsuit is part of a coordinated national litigation campaign, with about two dozen similar ….
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Washington, D.C. — Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, issued the following statement addressing the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Delaware and Hoboken, New Jersey’s climate lawsuits: “The Third Circuit, in our opinion, reached the wrong conclusion, but importantly, it called out this litigation for what it is: trying to ….
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The American Tort Reform Association recently issued a report highlighting one of the more concerning aspects of the climate litigation campaign waged by plaintiffs’ lawyers and public officials against energy manufacturers. Privately funded lawyers are being paid to serve in attorney general offices around the country despite the many ethical issues raised by such arrangements. ….
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In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in the City of Hoboken and State of Delaware’s climate lawsuits against energy producers. The three-judge panel probed the assertion that the case belongs in state court rather than federal court. The judges asked good questions of both sides, appreciating the ….
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