Lawsuits Are a Poor Way to Address Climate Change

Numerous jurisdictions are suing energy companies. Not for fraud or white-collar crime, but for the effects of climate change.Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York, recently added his city to the list — and also started to divest the city's pension funds from fossil-fuel companies. But the phenomenon is primarily a California-centric one. In an address at South by Southwest earlier this month, even former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the fray.Presumably, this will soon be a cause célèbre. But it is unlikely to succeed, and lawsuits are a poor way to address the environmental harms of energy production anyhow.  Continue reading...