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How Foundations and Contingency Fees Privately Fund Government Climate Litigation

In Chapter Five of Beyond the Courtroom: A Closer Look at Climate Litigation in the United States, the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project explains the private funding models, namely foundation money and contingency fee arrangements, behind today’s government climate lawsuits. The Chapter explains how these funding sources can distort justice and create conflicts of interest between the for-profit ….
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U.S. Court of Appeals Hears NYC Climate Tort Case, Properly Identifies that Case is About Emissions and Asks Whether It Should be Preempted

New York, NY.  Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel to the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, attended the oral argument in The City of New York v. BP P.L.C., which was held this morning at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in New York and issued the following observations: The judges hearing this appeal were presented with clear arguments as ….
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The NAM’s Linda Kelly in The Wall Street Journal: Congress, not Courts, Must Take the Lead on Driving Climate Change Solutions

In a Wall Street Journal column published yesterday, Linda Kelly, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at the National Association of Manufacturers, explains why making the public policy decisions needed to fight climate change must remain the province of Congress and not driven by liability rulings in cases seeking to scapegoat energy manufacturers. ….
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What’s ‘Public Nuisance’ Really Mean? Get Caught Up in 90 Seconds

Today, the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project (MAP) released a short, 90-second video that breaks down public nuisance law and demonstrates why it has no relation to complex global public policy matters like climate change. In the video, MAP Special Counsel Phil Goldberg discusses the foundations of public nuisance theory, noting how attorneys and local governments filing ….
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ICYMI: MAP Special Counsel Phil Goldberg: “We Can’t Litigate Our Way Out of Climate Change”

Recently, the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project’s (MAP) Special Counsel Phil Goldberg sat down for a one-on-one interview with E&E News reporter Jennifer Hijazi to discuss the latest on climate litigation, the misuse of the public nuisance theory and how litigation interferes with the innovation needed to address climate change. Here are some excerpts from the interview: ….
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The Climate Liability Road Trip

The Manufacturers’ Accountability Project released the fourth chapter of Beyond the Courtroom: A Closer Look at Climate Litigation in the United States, its report examining the highly coordinated network of foundations, activists and attorneys who are waging a multi-front and baseless litigation campaign in the United States against energy manufacturers. Here are some key excerpts ….
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Panel of Legal Experts Agree: Climate Litigation Lacks Legal Viability, Improper Solution to Important, Complex Issue

The Rule of Law Defense Fund gathered a seasoned and broad panel of legal experts in Washington, D.C. for a discussion of the current climate change litigation landscape. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson served as the event’s keynote speaker, and the panel featured Andrew Grossman, partner at Baker Hostetler; Phil Goldberg, managing partner at ….
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The Climate Change Litigation Campaign Next Stop? The U.S. House of Representatives.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing today titled “Examining the Oil Industry’s Efforts to Suppress the Truth about Climate Change.” Among the hearing’s witnesses are Harvard University professor Dr. Naomi Oreskes and Sharon Eubanks, former chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice in ….
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Supreme Court Should Grant Energy Manufacturers’ Request to Stay State Court Proceedings

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court requesting that the justices grant an emergency request by energy manufacturers to stay the City of Baltimore’s climate lawsuit until the federal judiciary can determine whether the city’s case should be heard in state or federal court. The ….
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Manufacturers to Congress: We Need Effective Climate Solutions, Must Unleash Innovation

In testimony today before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Energy and Resources Policy Vice President Ross Eisenberg urged Congress to adopt a single, unified climate policy that does not include litigation because, as he noted, suing the manufacturers that provide ….
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