Landmark Global Warming Lawsuit Settled

Landmark Global Warming Lawsuit Settled

SustainableBusiness.com News

March 15, 2009 A.D.

A USA federal lawsuit that sought to force two U.S. agencies to address the global warming implications of their overseas financing activities was settled Friday after more than six years. The suit established important legal precedents related to global warming.

The plaintiffs, including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city of Boulder, filed the suit in 2002 alleging that Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation illegally provided more than $32 billion in financing and insurance to fossil fuel projects over 10 years without assessing whether the projects contributed to global warming or impacted the U.S. environment, as they were required to do under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Fossil fuel projects financed by the two agencies from 1990 to 2003 produced cumulative emissions that were equivalent to nearly 8% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, or nearly one third of annual U.S. emissions in 2003.

In August 2005, a federal judge found that the U.S. cities suffering economic and other damages from climate change had standing to sue under NEPA, opening up the courthouse doors for the first time to those injured by climate change. Testimony from the case, which successfully asserted that climate change is real and caused by human activities, later informed the Mass. v EPA decision, in which the Supreme Court held that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Under Friday's settlement, the Export-Import Bank will begin taking carbon dioxide emissions into account in evaluating fossil fuel projects and create an organization-wide carbon policy. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation will establish a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with projects by 20% over the next ten years. Both agencies will commit to increasing financing for renewable energy.

A federal lawsuit that sought to force two U.S. agencies to address the global warming implications of their overseas financing activities was settled today after more than six years; the suit established important legal precedents related to global warming.

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city of Boulder, Colorado, filed the suit (Friends of the Earth, Inc., et al. v. Spinelli, et al.) in August 2002 and were later joined by the California cities of Arcata, Santa Monica and Oakland. The plaintiffs alleged that Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation illegally provided more than $32 billion in financing and insurance to fossil fuel projects over 10 years without assessing whether the projects contributed to global warming or impacted the U.S. environment, as they were required to do under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Fossil fuel projects financed by the two agencies from 1990 to 2003 produced cumulative emissions that were equivalent to nearly eight percent of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, or nearly one third of annual U.S. emissions in 2003.

In August 2005, a federal judge found that the U.S. cities suffering economic and other damages from climate change had standing to sue under NEPA, opening up the courthouse doors for the first time to those injured by climate change. Testimony from the case, which successfully asserted that climate change is real and caused by human activities, later informed the Mass. v EPA decision, in which the Supreme Court held that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Under the settlement agreed to today, the Export-Import Bank will begin taking carbon dioxide emissions into account in evaluating fossil fuel projects and create an organization-wide carbon policy. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation will establish a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with projects by 20 percent over the next ten years. Both agencies will commit to increasing financing for renewable energy.

“This settlement is a substantial victory for our climate. It will force federal agencies to move away from fossil fuel projects and account for the climate impacts of their lending," Michelle Chan, Senior Policy Analyst for Friends of the Earth, said. "As President Obama said in his inaugural address, 'We can no longer consume the world’s resources without regard to effect.' The settlement agreed to today is a first step toward making Obama's vision a reality for these institutions.”

In Related News...

The Obama administration took steps on Friday to create more stringent controls on mercury pollution from the nation's power plants, abandoning a Bush administration approach that the industry supported.

The Justice Department on Friday submitted papers to the Supreme Court to dismiss the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling struck down by a lower court last year.

Read Associate Press coverage at the link below.


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