us climate victims file suit
friends of the earth united
states
“We're nervous about climate
change—if we have no maples, we have no
farm income and the value of our land will
be devastated.”
Vermont maple sugar farmers Arthur
and Anne Berndt
|
A lawsuit has been filed against US
government agencies that fund
destructive projects abroad that
contribute to climate change
|
In 2002, Friends of the Earth United
States, Greenpeace and the cities of
Boulder , Colorado and Oakland , California
filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in
San Francisco on behalf of their members
and citizens who are victims of global
warming. The suit was filed against two US
government agencies – the Export Import
Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ex-Im and
OPIC are taxpayer-funded agencies that
provide financing and loans to US
corporations for overseas projects that
commercial banks deem too risky.
This legal action – the first of its
kind – alleges that OPIC and Ex-Im
illegally provided over US$32 billion in
financing and insurance for oil fields,
pipelines and coal-fired power plants over
the past ten years without assessing their
contribution to global warming and their
impact on the US environment as required
under key provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA
requires all federal agencies to conduct an
environmental assessment of programs and
project-specific decisions having a
significant effect on the human
environment; however, according to the
complaint, OPIC and Ex-Im have refused to
review the contribution of their programs
and fossil fuel projects to global
warming.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace
members involved in the suit include a
North Carolina couple who fear their
retirement property will be lost to storm
surges, erosion and the rising sea level;
maple syrup producers in Vermont who
believe their business will be ruined as
maple trees disappear from the area; and a
marine biologist whose life's work is in
jeopardy because the coral reefs he has
spent a lifetime studying and enjoying are
disappearing at an alarming rate due to
bleaching from rising ocean
temperatures.
more information
:
Climate Justice Programme:
www.climatelaw.org
Climate Lawsuit:
www.climatelawsuit.org
