U.S. To Be Sued for Global Warming

Despite the fact that no one can conclusively link global warming to human activities, a judge in San Francisco (imagine that) is allowing a lawsuit against the United States which seeks to blame the U.S. for whatever damage the plaintiffs think is being caused by the earth's warming:

In a landmark judgment, a court in California has allowed a coalition of environmental groups to sue the US government over global warming - the first time a court has recognised the potentially disastrous impact of climate change.

A judge in San Francisco gave permission for the two groups, along with four US cities, to sue two federal development agencies that provide billions of dollars in loans to fund projects overseas. Some of the projects are power plants that emit greenhouse gases while others include pipeline projects that allow the transfer of oil.

"This is the first time a US court has given a plaintiff the right to go to court solely on the global warming issue," Geoff Hand, a Vermont-based lawyer in the case, told The Independent. "It's a great advance."

Mr Hand said the case would not strictly be an examination of global warming science, but he added: "We have dealt with the jurisdiction issues - the case will now go on to the merits. It essentially puts the onus on to the government and means they have to show global warming is not happening. It will have to provide evidence to say it is not happening."

The lawsuit was brought by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, along with the cities of Boulder, Colorado, and the Californian cities of Oakland, Santa Monica and Arcata. In the filing the cities argued that the impact of global warming - including rising sea levels and warmer ocean temperatures - would have a negative impact on their communities.

This is another example of why the left is so concerned about judicial appointments. Once again they are trying to enact their policies judicially that they cannot enact legistatively.

Given the nature of the plaintiffs (two radical environmental groups and four way-left cities), I don't give this suit much of a chance. The fact that they were able to convince a judge in San Francisco to let them proceed is no guarantee that there's any merit to their cause. This looks to me like a classic case of judge-shopping.

This might be a good time to review the article on the Theology of Global Warming.