Washington, DC — Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel for the NAM’s Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, issued the following statement ahead of the Honolulu City Council’s public hearing today to consider a resolution to approve a climate lawsuit targeting manufacturers and hiring outside trial attorneys:

“Climate change is a shared global challenge that requires a broad and innovative response from policymakers—not litigation seeking to cast blame onto a single industry. Before signing onto this litigation and fast tracking the hiring of a for profit San Francisco law firm, the City should hold hearings to explore the impact that suing the companies that produce the energy we all use will have on our everyday lives. They will find that this litigation will not solve climate change, but it will make it more expensive for all of us to turn on our lights, fuel our cars and power our factories—not to mention the increased costs of getting goods, services and tourists to the island. Nobody should look at this lawsuit as any real solution.

“If Honolulu wants to join the fight against climate change, it should ditch this type of litigation, which courts have already found baseless, and work with manufacturers to develop the technologies that Honolulu and other communities need to source and use energy in ways that reduce climate impacts. The manufacturing community, including those targeted in this litigation, is already highly focused on developing technological solutions to climate change and would gladly partner with Honolulu on these efforts.”

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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.