Climate lawsuits are surging, but one legal expert says that’s a “very concerning and dangerous” way to go about dealing with the problem.
“We all recognize that we need to figure out how to source and use energy in ways that are both sustainable for the planet and sustainable for our way of life,” climate attorney Phil Goldberg told the Washington Examiner.
“That takes a lot of innovation. It takes a lot of smart policymaking. But what it doesn’t take are lawsuits,” he said on the Plugged In podcast.
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Goldberg, the managing partner of the Shook, Hardy & Bacon firm’s Washington, D.C., location, has also been a senior adviser on the Manufacturers Accountability Project. The project was designed to show communities and industry alike that fighting climate change is a “shared challenge,” and these lawsuits are not “an easy way out.”
“These are not the kinds of issues that we can decide in the courts. The courts can’t hold hearings; they can’t make policy decisions,” Goldberg said, adding that these quests for reparations go back at least 20 years and have made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
“[Courts] are not good at public risk,” he explained.
Plaintiffs in these lawsuits — Goldberg pointed out that they aren’t always clear — want to make energy more expensive. They are hoping the lawsuits will do that for them, he said.
Courts work best when they have substantial evidence, standards, and regulations in order to right certain wrongs, Goldberg noted. While the lawsuits are seemingly the same, there is no standard to weigh them against.
That’s where Congress comes in, he said.
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When asked if political polarization plays a role in the inability of lawmakers or federal regulators to set those standards, Goldberg said yes.
“I could tell you how political polarization is ruining our country all the way around. This is only one circumstance where that might be,” he said.
Goldberg added that most people fall somewhere in the middle ideologically and would rather have solutions that are more affordable and make their lives better than just a party pursuing an agenda.
“By and large, most of us are saying, ‘Hey, we get this. We get that climate change is real. We get that climate change needs to be dealt with … [and] we need to do it now,’” Goldberg said. “Where we disagree is on solutions.”
But it is Congress, not the courts, that should be deciding how to best represent what constituents want, Goldberg said. Lawmakers and regulators on both sides of the aisle need to come together to find a solution that works for everyone.
Still, Goldberg said the industry has to recognize its role in fighting climate change and use its resources to manufacture energy that is sustainable for the climate and the consumer.
“We all have to be part of the solution. And the energy companies are no different,” he said.
Plugged In, hosted by former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee and energy reporter Breanne Deppisch, brings on key players, from lawmakers to federal employees to industry experts, to keep our audience up to speed on the latest energy issues facing the country and the planet.
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