The recent 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, once again focused the world’s attention on the issue of global warming. But far from Copenhagen, the issue of whether global warming will become the next mass tort is playing out in courtrooms across America. Notwithstanding long-running debates in the scientific and political realms, the courts have only recently begun to grapple with this issue.
Although the early global warming decisions discussed here focus on the threshold matters of standing to sue and whether these cases raise nonjusticiable political questions, several courts have foreshadowed the difficulties plaintiffs may face as these cases mature. Although some global warming plaintiffs have gotten a foot in the door — and while similar actions may continue to be brought under nuisance, negligence or other theories — the early cases suggest that global warming plaintiffs may face significant hurdles in proving causation, thereby limiting the likelihood that global warming will morph into a large-scale mass tort.
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