PRESS RELEASE: Heartland Institute Expert Comments on Dismissal of New York City Climate Lawsuit

Published July 20, 2018

A federal judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit brought by New York City claiming fossil fuel companies owe it compensation for causing climate change. Judge John F. Keenan of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote that climate change “is a fact of life,” and it’s the job of legislatures to address it, not the judiciary. Federal Judge William Alsup dismissed a similar lawsuit last month in California brought by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland.

The following statements from energy experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Media Specialist Billy Aouste at [email protected] and 312/377-4000 or (cell) 847/445-7554.

“For years, the environmental Left has failed in its effort to convince the American public that man-made global warming is a crisis. Now even the last refuge of the Left and their big-city mayors – the federal judiciary – has once again rejected their unscientific arguments.”

“The Al Gore alarmists are on a losing streak that will continue because they don’t have the science, the economics, or the law on their side.”

Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D.
President
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]

Dr. Huelskamp represented Kansas’ 1st District in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
 

 “With U.S. District Judge John Keenan’s dismissal of New York City’s idiotic lawsuit against Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell, climate alarmists are 0 for 2 in the courts. In this instance, it ought to be two strikes and you’re out for cities, states and individuals looking to pick deep corporate pockets to solve the problem of aging infrastructure and inclement weather.

“Though I believe most climate fears are way overblown, Keenan was certainly correct. If a response to climate change is warranted, it is the federal government, in particular Congress, which must respond, not the courts – and certainly not wild-eyed state attorneys general looking to put another corporate scalp on their belts.”

H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow, Environment & Energy Policy
The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor, Environment & Climate News
[email protected]