Washington, D.C. — In response to fifteen state attorneys general filing an amicus brief in support of manufacturers before Judge John Keenan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Lindsey de la Torre, Executive Director of the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project (MAP), released the following statement:

“Once again, 15 state attorneys general have joined together in defense of manufacturers across the nation as trial lawyers continue to file misguided lawsuits. With continued support from the attorneys general, manufacturers can focus their efforts on solutions rather than fighting litigation that legal precedent has demonstrated will ultimately fail.”

In their brief, the attorneys general note that the courts are not the proper forum to address this global issue:

“But the questions of global climate change and its effects—and the proper balance of regulatory and commercial activity—are political questions not suited for resolution by any court. Indeed, such judicial resolution would trample Congress’s carefully-calibrated process of cooperative federalism where States work in tandem with EPA to administer the federal Clean Air Act.”

The amicus brief was signed by attorneys general from Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

-MAP- 

The Manufacturers’ Accountability Project (MAP) will set the record straight and highlight the concerted, coordinated campaign being waged by plaintiffs’ lawyers, public officials, deep-pocketed foundations and other activists who have sought to undermine and weaken manufacturers in the United States. This campaign will pull back the curtain to expose these efforts and to hold key actors accountable in order to protect our members and American manufacturing workers. The MAP is a project of the NAM’s Manufacturers’ Center for Legal Action (MCLA), which serves as the leading voice of manufacturers in the nation’s courts. Visit us at mfgaccountabilityproject.org.