[Rantman] Listen to court pleadings for global warming case Kivalina

[rPauli]

The Ninth Circuit Court is now hearing arguments in possibly the
greatest legal case of our age:   deciding whether oil and coal
companies can be liable for global warming damages.

Along the Alaskan sea coast, the Native Village of Kivalina used to be
protected from winter storms by heavy pack ice.    The ice is now
completely gone.  (last weekend they had a horrible storm)  The Army
Corps of Engineers says global warming is the reason the ice is gone.  
Greenhouse gasses from oil and coal combustion are the direct cause. 
And major fuel companies may have known this was a problem.   The
village is getting washed away and has to move.  It will cost about $400
million to move.  

Lawsuit ensues.   Everybody is in court.    This is a huge precedent
setting case.

Oh, and just to make it interesting:   Plaintiffs argue that a handful
of defendants are engaging in conspiracy to promote false scientific
debate on climate change.   Plenty of names and details listed in the
filing.

You can hear all the arguments that lawyers made earlier this week.
   This may make it to the Supreme Court.   (This is the kind of stuff
that Nina Totenberg hears before she cuts most of it out for her NPR
reports. )
 
Native Village of Kivalina, et al. v. ExxonMobil Corporation, et al.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_subpage.php?pk_id=0000008379
Case Number:  09-17490
Case Panel: THOMAS, CLIFTON, Pro
Hearing Location: San Francisco
Hearing Date:   11/28/2011
The audio only link is 
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/media/2011/11/28/09-17490.wma

            The Kivalina plaintiffs are seeking compensation for climate
        change--related damages, including the potential $400 million
        cost to relocate the village away from melting permafrost and
        eroding coastlines. The plaintiffs argue that dangerous levels
        of greenhouse gases emitted by the defendants---24 oil, gas, and
        coal companies---arise to a nuisance under federal common law.
        Plaintiffs also argue that a handful of the defendants are
        engaging in conspiracy to promote false scientific debate on
        climate change.  The Northern District of California dismissed
        the case on standing and political question grounds.  The case
        is now in the hands of the Ninth Circuit. The Native Village of
        Kivalina awaits a decision on whether it will win its day in
        court, which could take up to one year.   
        http://threedegreeswarmer.org/2011/12/kivalina-argued-before-ninth-circuit-but-relocation-still-a-hurdle/. 


Lawyers reference other global warming cases -  you can find them
discussed here http://www.climatelaw.org/cases/country/us/ 

The text of the case filing is  
http://www.climatelaw.org/cases/country/us/kivalina/Kivalina%20Complaint.pdf

RP

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