Litigation

Supreme Court declines to hear 5th Circuit climate suit

By Carter Wood

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied the petition of mandamus from plaintiffs who in Comer v. Murphy Oil Co. had sued energy companies and manufacturers for contributing to global warming, which strengthened Hurricane Katrina, which worsened property damage in Mississippi, so pay up. (Order List)

This is the suit that ran such a strange course through the lower courts.  U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., of the Southern District of Mississippi originally dismissed the lawsuit in August 2007, ruling the plaintiffs lacked standing and the tort claims had to be resolved through the political system. (Opinion here, via Global Climate Law Blog.) The plaintiff's appealed to the Fifth Circuit, and on Oct. 16, 2009, a three-judge panel ruled two-to-one that the lawsuit had indeed raised justiciable issues that should be heard at trial. (Opinion here.)

The Fifth Circuit than agreed to consider the case en banc, but then one more appellate judge recused herself for a conflict of interest, eliminating the necessary quorum to hear the case. Since the three-member panel's ruling had been vacated, the case was dismissed (ruling), and the plaintiffs were forced to pursue the mandamus route in an attempt to keep the litigation alive.

Two other federal global warming/public nuisance suits remain: American Electric Power v. Connecticut, on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Native Village of Kivalina versus Exxon Mobil, on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

See also, Climate Law Blog, "SCOTUS Denies Petition for Mandamus in 5th Circuit Climate Nuisance Suit," and earlier, Jonathan Adler at Volokh.com, "Writ of Mandamus Sought in Comer v. Murphy Oil." Earlier POL posts here.

Full post as published by Point of Law on January 10, 2011 (boomark / email).