US Multistate Coalition Files Brief To Hold Oil Firms Accountable For Sea-Level Rise

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) A US multistate coalition filed a brief supporting a lawsuit to hold energy companies accountable for harmful rises in sea levels, the California Attorney General's Office said in a press release.

"California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a multistate coalition, today filed an amicus brief supporting the city of Oakland and the city and county of San Francisco in their lawsuit... The suit seeks to hold petroleum and coal companies accountable for actions contributing to climate change and the resulting harms from sea-level rise and other effects," the release said on Wednesday.

In 2017, the cities of Oakland and San Francisco sued oil companies for conduct that has exacerbated global warming, the impact of which leaves local governments to manage the full costs of "inundation, erosion, flooding, property damage, and threats to the health and safety of residents," the release said.

The oil companies, however, were able to successfully transfer the cases from state to Federal court. In 2018 a federal district court ruled against requests to have the cases heard in local jurisdictions. The attorneys general in the brief call for reversing the decisions not to send the cases back to state court.

California state research projects that sea levels along San Francisco's coastline may rise by as much as ten feet by 2100, according to the release, putting at risk nearly $50 billion of public and private property.

Joining Becerra in filing the brief are the Attorneys General of the US states of Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.