VICTORY!

Landmark Global Warming Lawsuit Settled
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other plaintiffs force U.S financing agencies, EXIM and OPIC, to take action on global warming as precedent-setting seven-year-old suit ends.
Press Release | Exim Settlement | OPIC Settlement

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In a groundbreaking global warming lawsuit, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and four cities are charging that the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Oversees Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) have provided financial assistance to oil and other fossil fuel projects without first evaluating the projects' global warming impacts. The cities of Oakland, Arcata and Santa Monica, Calif. and Boulder, Colo. are parties to the suit.

The lawsuit alleges that Ex-Im and OPIC illegally provided over $32 billion in financing and insurance for oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired power plants over 10 years without assessing their contribution to global warming, or their impact on the US environment as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Most Recent Update
(Previous Updates, Background and Legal Documents Below)

In a landmark court decision in August 2005, the plaintiffs were granted legal standing to proceed with the case (see description and link to decision below). On April 14, 2006, the merits of the lawsuit were heard in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and the parties are awaiting a decision.

View legal documents related to the recent court proceedings (other legal documents are below):

Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgement
Defendant Ex-Im Bank's Cross Motion
Defendant OPIC's Cross Motion
Plaintiffs' Motion to Strike

Update August 24, 2005:

IN LANDMARK DECISION AGAINST BUSH ADMINISTRATION, FEDERAL COURT RECOGNIZES HARM CAUSED BY GLOBAL WARMING

Lawsuit by Environmental Groups and Cities Goes Forward

A federal judge in California ruled yesterday against the federal government and allowed the groundbreaking climate change lawsuit to proceed. The landmark decision is the first time that a federal court has specifically granted legal standing for a lawsuit exclusively challenging the Federal government's failure to evaluate the impacts of its actions on the earth's climate and U.S. citizens.

View the judge's decision

Update March 22, 2005: The U.S. Government attempted to move the case from California to Washington, D.C. Despite the fact that all of the Plaintiffs are either based, or have offices in California, the trial court granted the Government's request.

In response, the Plaintiffs filed a mandamus petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals explaining the hardship, particularly to the Cities of Oakland, Arcata, and Santa Monica, of litigating in a distant court.

The Ninth Circuit ordered that the case shall remain in California.

The Government is now claiming that this case should be dismissed because: (1) the Plaintiffs lack standing, (2) OPIC and ExIm have not taken any action subjecting them to judicial review, and (3) that OPIC is exempt from complying with NEPA.

The Plaintiffs have opposed the Government's claims. A hearing on these issues will take place in the U.S. Court House in San Francisco on April 29th, 2005.

View related legal documents:

• Plaintiff's Final Response to Government's Motion for Summary Judgement


• Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Government's Declarations


• Government's Final Response Regarding Summary Judgement


• Plaintiffs' Response to Government's Motion for Summary Judgement


• Government's Motion for Summary Judgement: Government's November 2004 reponse to the lawsuit wherein the government claims the lawsuit is invalid because human emissions of greenhouse gases - burning coal, oil and natural gas in powerplants and transportation - have not been proven to cause global warming.


• The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco


• Declaration of Friends of the Earth


• Declaration of Greenpeace


• Declaration of the City of Arcata, California


• Declarations of Greenpeace members:
  Melanie Duchin of Alaska
  Mr. and Mrs. Williford of North Carolina


• Declaration of Friends of the Earth member

• Declaration of Dr. Michael C. MacCracken: on the scientific consensus on global warming. Dr MacCracken served as the first Executive Director of the Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) under the Clinton Administration from 1993-1997. There he was responsible for assisting the coordination of global warming research programs of ten federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, EPA, NASA and others.
  
  Declaration of Dr. David Legates: Dr Legates' rebuttal to Dr. MacCracken's declaration. Legates is a known climate skeptic who has been associated with several right wing institutions paid by ExxonMobil. For more on Legates' right-wing connections, see our research on exxonsecrets.org (Hit SKIP INTRO at bottom right to go straight to the diagram.)


• Declaration of Richard Heede: of Climate Mitigation Services "summarizes the results and the methodology used to estimate the direct, indirect and cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of projects financed by Ex-Im and OPIC from 1990 through 2003. Heede concludes that the massive oil, natural gas and coal energy projects these banks finance now financed account for nearly eight percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide or nearly one third of the total U.S. carbon emissions in 2003.
  

National Public Radio's Living on Earth: Cities Sue Over Climate Change

Dec 12, 2002 - City of Oakland, Calif., Joins Global Warming Lawsuit in Unanimous City Council Vote: U.S. Government Agencies Charged With Illegally Funding Fossil Fuel Projects

Aug 27, 2002 - Global Warming Victims Sue the United States for Illegally Funding Fossil Fuel Projects: Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and City of Boulder Team Up to Bring Suit

City of Oakland, Calif., Joins Global Warming Lawsuit in Unanimous City Council Vote

U.S. Government Agencies Charged With Illegally Funding Fossil Fuel Projects

WASHINGTON – In a unanimous vote by the city council in closed session on Dec. 17, the city of Oakland, Calif., announced it had approved a motion to join a lawsuit brought by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city of Boulder, Colo., on behalf of their members and citizens against two US government agencies – the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Charged with illegally funding fossil fuel projects, Ex-Im and OPIC are taxpayer-funded agencies that provide financing and loans to US corporations for overseas projects commercial banks deem too risky.

"The threat of global warming can no longer be ignored," said Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. "I commend the Oakland City Council for taking this step to protect the Bay Area from the detrimental impacts of climate change."

The unprecedented lawsuit alleges that OPIC and Ex-Im illegally provided over $32 billion in financing and insurance for oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired power plants over the past 10 years without assessing their contribution to global warming, or their impact on the US environment as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Key provisions of NEPA require all federal agencies to conduct an environmental assessment of programs and project-specific decisions having a significant effect on the human environment. According to the complaint, however, OPIC and Ex-Im have refused to review the fossil fuel projects they are involved in for global warming impacts as required under NEPA.

The city of Oakland is the second major US city to join this landmark lawsuit. Boulder's city council voted to join the suit in August, concerned that climate change could diminish their drinking water supplies and bring a host of other negative impacts.

“The Bush administration’s stance on climate change fails America’s cities. Oakland and Boulder are taking a bold stand to defend themselves and hold our government accountable,” said Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder.

According to the Global Warming Project, the city of Oakland and the Bay Area could face increased risk of salt-water contamination in groundwater aquifers as a result of sea levels rising. Storm runoff and high tides could overwhelm sewerage systems. Oakland Airport, built on a former wetland at about 10 feet above sea level would be susceptible to flooding from extreme tides coupled with flood conditions and storm surges. Increasing temperatures will aggravate respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, reduce lung function and induce respiratory inflammation.

"We congratulate the cities of Oakland and Boulder for their leadership in holding the Bush administration accountable for failing to take action on global warming," said Gary Cook, coordinator of Greenpeace's Global Warming Campaign.

Contacts:
Gary Skulnik, Greenpeace Media Officer, 202-319-2492
Erica Harrold, City of Oakland, Calif., 510-238-6903
Ron Shems, Attorney for the plaintiffs, SDK Attorneys, 802-860-1003
Legal Expert for Comment: John Echeverria, Georgetown University Environmental Law Institute Executive Director, 202-662-9850 x3

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Global Warming Victims Sue the United States for Illegally Funding Fossil Fuel Projects

Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and City of Boulder Team Up to Bring Suit

WASHINGTON – August 27, 2002 – Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace and the City of Boulder, Colorado filed a lawsuit today in the US District Court in San Francisco on behalf of their members and citizens who are victims of global warming. The suit has been 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 $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 ExIm have refused to review their programs’ and fossil fuel projects’ contributions to global warming under NEPA.

Foe 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; one of the largest maple syrup producers in Vermont who believes his business will be ruined as maple trees disappear from the area; and a marine biologist whose life’s work is in jeopardy because coral reefs he has spent a lifetime studying and enjoying are disappearing at an alarming rate due to bleaching from rising ocean temperatures.

"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," said Foe/Greenpeace members Arthur and Anne Berndt. Regarding the state of the coral reefs off the Florida Keys, Foe member Dr. Phillip Dustan said, "It’s tantamount to visiting Sequoia National Forest and finding 90% of the trees either dead or on the ground."

Foe, Greenpeace, and the City of Boulder view this suit as a critical first step toward compelling the Bush administration to take action against global warming, and to protect people from its dangerous effects. After the city council voted to join the lawsuit, Boulder Mayor Will Toor said, "All of the work that the city of Boulder does to maintain the quality of life for our residents will be negatively impacted by the detrimental effects of climate change. We believe that this lawsuit is one way force the federal government to start paying attention to this critical issue."

CONTACT:

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