Coastal Communities File Complaint Against Fuel Companies

<a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Pier_11-17-08_r… loading="lazy" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-41483" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Pier_11-17-08_r…; alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Pier_11… 300w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Pier_11… 550w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a>
The City of Imperial Beach has joined two California counties in bringing complaints before the Superior Court of California in order to hold 37 fossil fuel companies for damage caused by contributing to sea level rise and global climate change.
The complaint, issued by the San Mateo County, Marin County and the City of Imperial Beach, states that gas, coal, and oil companies were aware that the use of its products contributes measurably to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is a factor in accelerating global climate change and rising sea levels.
It is also argued that these companies are complicit in the damages caused by global climate change, which will cause major expenses for coastal communities in the future.
“Defendants have known for nearly 50 years that greenhouse gas pollution from their fossil fuel products has a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and sea levels,” states the complaint. “With that knowledge, Defendants took steps to protect their own assets from these threats through immense internal investment in research, infrastructure improvements, and plans to exploit new opportunities in a warming world.”
The complaint also accuses be energy companies of hiding the danger behind use of their products and creating campaigns to boost consumption in benefit of these companies rather than encouraging a reduction of emission rates.
The 37 companies named in the document are also accused of being responsible for approximately 20 percent of the total industrial production of carbon dioxide and methane generated from 1965 to 2015
“The environmental harm these companies knowingly caused jeopardizes the public’s health and places the financial burden of those consequences on the taxpayers,” said San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President Don Horsley. “With this legal action, the County of San Mateo and our partners in Marin County and Imperial Beach are standing up for our residents and businesses to hold these companies accountable for their emissions and lay blame where it truly belongs.”
“The damage they’ve caused and continue to cause is unacceptable,” Horsley added.
It is estimated that the effects caused by damage to the environment will have an impact on more than 12,000 homes, businesses, and structures in Marin County. The assessed total value of structures potentially affected is of 14 billion dollars.
According to a 2009 report by the Pacific Institute, San Mateo County was the most at-risk property than any other county in California in terms of value of land and number of people affected.
Local sewage and rainwater infrastructure in Imperial Beach, as well as roads, two elementary schools, and a high number of private properties are in danger of flooding. Imperial Beach currently has the highest poverty rate in San Diego County.
“Sea level rise is harming Imperial Beach and threatening our future,” said Serge Dedina, mayor of Imperial Beach. “As a low-income coastal community, we have no capacity to pay for the adaptation measures needed to protect ourselves from these impacts. It is unfair to force citizens, business owners and taxpayers to fend for ourselves when the source of the problem is so clear. It is more critical than ever that we hold those corporate polluters accountable.”