In the last few years, “global warming” has taken the blame for virtually every natural disaster. Everything from Hurricane Harvey to the increase in earthquakes has been blamed on climate change – and by extension those who supposedly cause it.
The latest example of this “blame game” is the way in which individual cities have now started blaming all kinds of disasters, including both floods and drought, on global warming, and have taken the fossil fuel industry to court to seek damages.
Last month, Think Progress reported that at least nine U.S. cities have filed lawsuits against major fuel companies like Exxon, BP and Chevron in the past year to “to try and hold them accountable for their role in climate change and its impacts on the community.”
New York City was the first major city to sue fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell, in an attempt to collect the funds needed to implement projects to deal with a sea level rise that they blame on climate change. The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has also vowed to disinvest $191 billion of the city’s pension funds which were previously invested with fossil fuel companies. (Related: NASA confirms sea levels have been FALLING across the planet for two years … media SILENT.)
Think Progress reported:
Alongside New York, seven other California cities and counties have filed lawsuits against a range of oil, gas, and coal companies, each seeking damages worth billions of dollars to help pay for current and future infrastructure updates necessitated by climate change. Los Angeles’ city council has also introduced a motion asking the city attorney to look into potentially filing a similar lawsuit on behalf of the city.
And now this trend has also taken off across the Atlantic.
EcoWatch recently reported that the city of Paris is now also exploring the possibility of suing the fossil fuel industry for damages. The city experienced devastating floods in 2016, and is looking for a way to recoup its losses.
The city has already committed to total divestment from all fossil fuel companies and has flexed its political muscle to get other large cities to do the same.
Parisian leaders claim that studies conducted after a series of devastating floods in May 2016 prove that global warming doubled the city’s risk of flooding, and therefore conclude that they are entitled to claim damages from the fossil fuel industry.
This, despite the fact that scientists do not all agree that global warming is established scientific fact, and much of the “proof” for the global warming argument is easily debunked.
Nonetheless, global warming prophets of doom are delighted that all these cities are blaming every possible weather extreme – hot or cold, flood or drought – on global warming and are turning it into a lucrative financial opportunity.
"It's fantastic news that cities like New York and Paris are mobilizing to protect their citizens and hold multinational fossil fuel companies accountable for the damage they cause,” said Clémence Dubois of 350.org. “This is a major breakthrough for the divestment movement and the thousands of people around the world who have pushed cities to take a stand against polluters who are destroying our climate and the planet.”
Interestingly, while Paris is blaming its floods on global warming, the city of Cape Town is blaming its extreme drought on the very same climate change. While some “experts” warn of dangerous increases in global temperature, many cities around the world are experiencing the coldest weather in decades.
It just seems like global warming is a convenient scapegoat for just about anything. (Related: Discover the truth about global warming at ClimateScienceNews.com.)
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