Washington, D.C. — Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, issued the following statement in response to the Anne Arundel County, Maryland filing a lawsuit against manufacturers over the impacts of climate change:

“We share Anne Arundel County’s commitment to the environment, and we should be fighting climate change instead of each other. What Americans deserve is 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. These lawsuits do nothing to advance meaningful solutions to climate change and will only make oil, gas and other energy staples more expensive for families and businesses in Anne Arundel County and throughout Maryland.

“Making and selling us the energy we all need to heat our homes, power our factories and jobs, and be part of modern society is not a liability-inducing event. That is why courts across the country—including the U.S. Supreme Court—have repeatedly dismissed these climate suits. If Anne Arundel County 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.”

-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.