The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear an appeal to Connecticut v. AEP, a court of appeals granting eight states the right to sue American Electric Power (AEP) Co. and several other utilities for greenhouse gas emissions. The states had argued that carbon dioxide emissions were a “public nuisance,” and hoped to force the companies to reduce their emissions through litigation.
In a recent PPI memo, Philip Goldberg argued that such litigation made little sense.
Progressives should … not reflexively support climate change litigation, no matter how passionately one might favor emission reductions. We should adhere to our principles and protect due process rights of defendants, even when those defendants are large corporations. The David and Goliath analogy may score political points, but it only works in litigation when Goliath does something objectively wrong. Otherwise, any group that fails to get its way in the political arena will turn to the courts. Such an act would be an affront to democratic proceduralism that has long defined our progressive philosophy.
You can read the entire memo here.
