This charge of conspiracy is not new; it's what finally brought down big tobacco. And if they can make it stick, there will be an unending rush of trial lawyers suing the deep pockets of the oil companies. Can you say $20-per-gallon gas? And most of it ending up in trial lawyers' hands?
The context of this case is a village in Alaska is suing because its coastline is eroding. Of course, there are practical obstacles to the plaintiff's winning, such as causation. For the village to win, it will have to demonstrate that its coastline erosion was clearly caused by human global climate change and in particular the companies who are the defendants.
This, coupled with the growing scientific challenges to human-caused climate-change theories, means that this is by no means a slam dunk for the plaintiffs. However, the cases are coming, and the strategy has been likened to a World War I human wave rush: if 99 cases out of 100 get shot down, eventually one will win — and change the game.
This is a potential new "green gold rush" for the plaintiff's bar, with likely catastrophic effects on energy prices as energy companies will get socked with the entire burden of repairing "global climate change" damage — likely potential damage too. Expect outrageous claims like island nations suing to get their entire country raised out of the sea (and can you imagine the cost that would take?).
Many plaintiff's attorneys are seizing on so-called "green initiatives" that companies have undertaken in good faith and transforming them into admissions of liability.
