In Cities' Climate Change Case, the Judge Requests a Science Lesson
U.S. District Judge William Alsup has asked for a tutorial from lawyers on both sides of a lawsuit where the cities of Oakland and San Francisco are attempting to force large oil companies to chip in for infrastructure upgrades needed to deal with the effects of climate change.
March 20, 2018 at 03:08 PM
4 minute read
SAN FRANCISCO — Lawyers for some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, and attorneys representing two Bay Area cities are set to descend on San Francisco Wednesday for what's expected to be a courtroom first: A daylong lesson on the latest science on climate change.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California is overseeing a public nuisance lawsuit that the cities of Oakland and San Francisco filed last fall against six fossil fuel giants: BP plc, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell plc. The two waterfront cities are seeking to hold the oil companies liable for the cost of infrastructure upgrades and remediation expected as they deal with effects of rising sea levels.
In much the same way the judge does in complex technology cases, Alsup has asked the parties for a tutorial. Alsup held a similar session on the laser science underpinning Waymo's autonomous vehicle trade secret lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc. and even asked the lawyers handling the litigation challenging the Trump administration's rollback of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals to bring him up to speed on the program.
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