America's Fastest-Submerging State Makes It Impossible To Sue Oil Companies For Climate Losses
Legislation that would make Louisiana the fifth state this year to buffer oil and gas companies from climate lawsuits is awaiting the governor’s signature. The bill has cleared both of the state’s legislative chambers and would prohibit litigation seeking compensation for the effects from greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
Existing lawsuits would not be affected, including a host of legal disputes that asks courts to hold companies financially accountable for Louisiana’s rapidly eroding coastline. A state Senate committee revised the legislation last month to exclude those lawsuits, angering critics of the challenges filed by coastal parish governments.
But bill sponsor state Rep. Brett Geymann, a Republican who represents the western Louisiana parishes of Beauregard and Calcasieu, did not oppose the amendment. Geymann said the amendment is redundant to his original language but noted there was “a desire for additional specificity since there are active coastal cases.” He said a Senate floor amendment clarified that coastal erosion lawsuits would be excluded as long as they are “never used for a climate change claim.”
Critics of the exclusion have blamed the amendment on Louisiana trial lawyers who represent Plaquemines, Cameron and other coastal parishes that have sued oil majors for drilling activity that they say has degraded the state’s fragile coast. Those lawsuits allege companies failed to obtain proper permits, and the cases seek multimillion-dollar payouts. Last year, for example, one Louisiana court ordered Chevron to pay $744 million in damages.
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https://www.eenews.net/articles/louisiana-seeks-to-shield-oil-industry-from-climate-lawsuits/
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It's their children's and grandchildren's... just screw them, and it is that close! 