I just found this great story via Treehugger: a small Inuit community is suing 24 big, bad energy companies, claiming damages due to climate change. The melting ice pack has pushed up sea levels and exposed the residents of Kivalina to an increasing number of storms; the cost of relocating the entire village (which is sinking into the sea) is placed at US$400 million. Arctic communities are of course extremely vulnerable to the effects of changing weather patterns and are feeling the effects of climate change right now.
Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, ConocoPhillips - they're all named as defendants, even though a man in a suit from Exxon Mobil claimed the company was "taking climate change seriously". Sure. Given the bottomless pit of money these companies will throw at the case, it will be a long, hard slog for the soon-to-be-homeless tribe but hopefully it will set a precedent for liability in damages resulting from climate change.
Guess who our money's on?
