Global Warming on Trial

Recently, however, governmental entities have started bringing suits against industry under a different theory, called “public nuisance.” Under the law of public nuisance, it is sometimes enough to show that industry has contributed to conditions that endanger the safety or health of a large number of people. A plaintiff need not show actual harm to individuals.

Critics of public nuisance suits accuse plaintiffs of improperly using the courts to push through regulatory or legislative change. Supporters argue that the courts are the right vehicle through which to vindicate past allegedly harmful behavior.

In our latest Legal Banter column, Russell Jackson, a defense-side lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York and David Bookbinder, a senior attorney at the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., square off over the issue.

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