The intersection of trial lawyer opportunism, climate orthodoxy, and political expediency has become a busy and increasingly perilous place.

Over the summer, Richmond, Marin County, Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo County, Imperial Beach, Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz County in California filed suit against ExxonMobil and other energy companies for damages to coastal property and infrastructure caused from climate change-related increases in sea levels. The legal foundation for holding individual companies responsible for a planetary climate phenomenon is far from solidified so the companies are sure to fight long and hard to avoid losing a war of financial attrition.