Federal court will hold first-ever hearing on climate change science

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
In the five-hour hearing, both the cities and the oil companies will have a chance to present Alsup with their views on the history of climate change science, and the most important recent findings in the field.

Alsup ordered the tutorial as part of his ruling last week that the San Francisco and Oakland lawsuit would be heard in federal court, as opposed to California state court. The cities had hoped their lawsuit would be heard in state court, since California has an established “public nuisance” law that hasn’t been developed in the federal court system.

Supporters of the oil industry seized on Alsup’s ruling as a victory against what they call “sham lawsuits.” But the judge didn’t completely rule in the industry’s favor. His ruling created the possibility that oil companies could be liable under federal common law for causing a “nuisance.” Environmentalists applauded that part of his ruling, as well as his decision to hold the March 21 tutorial.

“The court is forcing these companies to go on the record about their understanding of climate science, which they have desperately tried to avoid doing,” said Marco Simmons, general counsel for EarthRights International, which helps groups worldwide litigate against major industries.

Alsup, appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, has a reputation for immersing himself in the technicalities of legal cases. He famously taught himself the Java programming language in deciding a lawsuit that pitted Silicon Valley giants Oracle against Google. More recently, he asked lawyers for a tutorial on self-driving car technology in a lawsuit that pits Google’s Waymo against Uber.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article203842084.html#storylink=cpy
 
Top