"Honolulu Sues Petroleum Companies For Climate Change Damages to City"

"The city’s lawsuit cites the industry’s concealing of science that predicted catastrophic consequences for the continued burning of fossil fuels."

"Honolulu city officials, lashing out at the fossil fuel industry in a climate change lawsuit filed Monday, accused oil producers of concealing the dangers that greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum products would create, while reaping billions in profits.

The lawsuit, against eight oil companies, says climate change already is having damaging effects on the city's coastline, and lays out a litany of catastrophic public nuisances—including sea level rise, heat waves, flooding and drought caused by the burning of fossil fuels—that are costing the city billions, and putting its residents and property at risk.

'We are seeing in real time coastal erosion and the consequences,' Josh Stanbro, chief resilience officer and executive director for the City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, told InsideClimate News. 'It's an existential threat for what the future looks like for islanders.'"

David Hasemyer reports for InsideClimate News March 10, 2020.

Source: InsideClimate News, 03/10/2020