Twenty years ago lawyers brought tobacco manufacturers to their knees with billion-dollar claims for damages—thus making an important contribution to curtailing smoking and improving public health. Similarly, now lawyers see possibilities for a major contribution to the fight against global warming with lawsuits against the oil companies. Several flood-prone municipalities in California recently filed first-of-their-kind lawsuits to make the fossil fuel industry pay for the damage as a result of the rising seas. Here’s an analysis of this upcoming legal battle and a link to our “The Courthouse Effect” feature from 10 years ago predicting this development.
Tobacco-style California climate lawsuits can stimulate clean energy revolution
More of Today's Solutions
Germany’s coal mines are now Europe’s largest lake district
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When the last miners left the open-cast lignite pits of eastern Germany’s Lusatia region, they left behind craters ...
Read MoreThe sensory superpower that lets seals hunt in total darkness
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When a fish moves through water, it doesn’t simply pass through and vanish. It leaves a trail of ...
Read MoreAI helps restore Rembrandt masterpiece that was disfigured 300 years ago
In 1715, three-quarters of a century after Rembrandt painted it, The Night Watch was greatly disfigured when it was moved from its original location ...
Read MoreA new way to stack bricks could help clean Bangladesh’s air
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In the cool, dry winters of Bangladesh, the country’s 8,000-plus brick kilns roar to life. Coal-fed and open-air, ...
Read More
