A federal judge dismissed a pair of lawsuits that two California cities filed against major oil companies for their roles in climate change and its effects.
The ruling is a blow to San Francisco and Oakland and environmentalists who have long tried to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change.
Judge William Alsup stated in his late Monday ruling that his decision did not hinge on climate science and that there was no dispute about the harms of fossil fuels.
But Alsup, nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, ultimately felt that the core questions raised in the case were best left up to the federal government, Congress and international organizations.
“Questions of how to appropriately balance these worldwide negatives against the worldwide positives of the energy itself, and of how to allocate the pluses and minuses among the nations of the world, demand the expertise of our environmental agencies, our diplomats, our Executive, and at least the Senate,” Alsup wrote.
“Nuisance suits in various United States judicial districts regarding conduct worldwide are far less likely to solve the problem and, indeed, could interfere with reaching a worldwide consensus,” he continued.
“The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case.”
Alsup also felt that for a court to weigh in on substantive policy questions would be a violation of the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution, since those are rights reserved for other branches.
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JUST IN: Judge dismisses lawsuits against big oil companies over their role in climate change https://t.co/Hv1eoXPQW7 pic.twitter.com/FyXkQWZTgc
— The Hill (@thehill) June 26, 2018
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