Washington, D.C. — Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, issued the following statement in response to the New York City’s new lawsuit against manufacturers over the impacts of climate change:

“On Earth Day, we should be coming together to solve climate change. Manufacturers, including in the energy sector, are proactively working to create a sustainable environment, which requires developing innovative new technologies that will allow us to source and use energy much more efficiently. Collaboration and innovation are the only ways to stop climate change in its tracks.

“New York City should stop wasting everyone’s time on litigation that seeks to impose legal liability on manufacturers for climate change. This litigation will do nothing to solve climate change, is needlessly divisive, and will only make it more expensive for New York families and businesses to power their homes and workplaces. It also has repeatedly failed. Just last month, the federal courts rejected the City’s last climate lawsuit against these same companies, saying that “global warming presents a uniquely international problem of national concern. It is therefore not well-suited to the application of state law.”

“Americans deserve a smart national climate policy from policymakers, not a trial-lawyer driven litigation campaign that is more about making money and political scapegoating than real change. If New York City wants to make a real difference in the fight against global climate change, it should focus on working with manufacturers to foster the policies and innovations required to address this challenge—as the overwhelming majority of communities have done. Americans are tired of the litigation sideshow and deserve real solutions.”