Energy companies sued by Inuits over sinking village

Posted by jamie - 28 February 2008 at 2:37pm - Comments

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?

Article tagged as: arctic, climate change

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BP are hypocrites. Once I was in one of their petrol stations getting a drink, and above the Coke machine there were these leaflets saying how BP are helping reduce carbon emissions, etc. Like an idiot, I believed it. But now this and other things have shown me exactly where they stand.

Why can't these companies tell the public the truth for once? It'd sure make my life easier.

Gina

By gina.ribena - 29 February 2008 at 4:28pm

BP are hypocrites. Once I was in one of their petrol stations getting a drink, and above the Coke machine there were these leaflets saying how BP are helping reduce carbon emissions, etc. Like an idiot, I believed it. But now this and other things have shown me exactly where they stand. Why can't these companies tell the public the truth for once? It'd sure make my life easier. Gina

By gina.ribena - 29 February 2008 at 4:28pm