Climate Change Hot Sheet No. 7
August 25, 2020
By Sean Martin
Regardless of individual philosophies regarding climate change, the reality is that legislation, regulation, and litigation are occurring in which climate change is an issue and therefore affects the defense bar and our clients. DRI’s Center for Law and Public Policy will periodically publish Climate Change Hot Sheets to provide updates on developing trends in the climate change arena of interest to DRI members and our industry partners.
Ninth Circuit Rejects en banc Hearing in Three Climate Change Lawsuits
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for an en banc hearing in three climate lawsuits filed by two California counties and one city. The suits claim fuel companies created a public nuisance by hiding the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the environment. The issue on appeal is whether the case belongs in state or federal court. The current ruling remands the case to state court for a determination on the merits.
A copy of the order can be found here.
Sean W. Martin is a partner in the Chattanooga office of Carr Allison and is the Chair of the Climate Change Task Force of DRI’s Center for Law and Public Policy. He can be reached at swmartin@carrallison.com.