http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/conspiracy

This is quite an interesting development. The Eskimo village of Kivalina looks like being uninhabitable within 10 years.

They are taking out several class actions:


Quote:

In February, Berman and Susman—along with two attorneys who have previously worked on behalf of the village, and Matt Pawa, an environmental lawyer specializing in global warming—filed suit in federal court against 24 oil, coal, and electric companies, claiming that their emissions are partially responsible for the coastal destruction in Kivalina. More important, the suit also accuses eight of the firms (American Electric Power, BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, and Southern Company) of conspiring to cover up the threat of man-made climate change, in much the same way the tobacco industry tried to conceal the risks of smoking—by using a series of think tanks and other organizations to falsely sow public doubt in an emerging scientific consensus.

Just wait and see them all scuttle for shelter under the nearest rock when this kind of legal action starts to bite.

Everybody knows that the oil companies are covering up and falsely sowing public doubt, I suspect many of them have people writing on forums just like this.
Lets face it, grendel  is purposely trying to sow doubt in readers beliefs, just like this article says.

I doubt the Eskimo Village will have any success. No-one can fight these huge companies. They are more powerful than the whole countries they hold to ransom.

It's not just the emissions, it is the destruction of the land and environment, the pollution of the water and the toxic chemicals these companies leave in their wake.

I watched a documentary recently on the wild animals of the Dead Zone - Chernobyl and in the last couple of decades a whole new forest has grown over this area. It is unfit for human habitation and will be for thousands of years, yet hundreds of species of native animals have returned and are breeding prolifically.

The multinationals will only stop when they've wiped out their consumer base - a law suit will not be effective.

mantra wrote on Sep 9^th, 2009 at 12:07pm:

I doubt the Eskimo Village will have any success. No-one can fight these huge companies. They are more powerful than the whole countries they hold to ransom. It's not just the emissions, it is the destruction of the land and environment, the pollution of the water and the toxic chemicals these companies leave in their wake. I watched a documentary recently on the wild animals of the Dead Zone - Chernobyl and in the last couple of decades a whole new forest has grown over this area. It is unfit for human habitation and will be for thousands of years, yet hundreds of species of native animals have returned and are breeding prolifically. The multinationals will only stop when they've wiped out their consumer base - a law suit will not be effective.

The tobacco companies were pretty formidable too, yet some litigation was successful.

Re Chernobyl, there are some hot spots, but on the whole the Dead Zone would be habitable if they allowed it. Dust has covered a lot of the radioactive fallout and the levels are dropping. I read the book about the Dead Zone some time ago.

The animals have no obvious side effects and the nature reserve is the most succesful in Europe. Ironically one species of horse would have gone extinct if it was not for the Chernobyl accident.  Also ironically, Chernobyl was not the product of multinational corperations, but a state run nuclear power industry.

They would never have been allowed to build something like that without adequate containment  in the West. Democracy and free enterprise have a lot in their favour.

The Oil companies tend to say one thing publically yet they continue to fund disinformation in secret.

muso wrote on Sep 10^th, 2009 at 1:23pm:

Re Chernobyl, there are some hot spots, but on the whole the Dead Zone would be habitable if they allowed it. Dust has covered a lot of the radioactive fallout and the levels are dropping. I read the book about the Dead Zone some time ago. The animals have no obvious side effects and the nature reserve is the most succesful in Europe. Ironically one species of horse would have gone extinct if it was not for the Chernobyl accident.

 

All the animals are highly radioactive. Their food and water is saturated in radiation, but they don't live long enough to develop tumours.


Quote:

Also ironically, Chernobyl was not the product of multinational corperations, but a state run nuclear power industry. They would never have been allowed to build something like that without adequate containment  in the West. Democracy and free enterprise have a lot in their favour.

Yes that makes a good argument for NP, but no matter how many regulations are put in place, accidents are caused through unforeseen circumstances. Nothing is infallible.


Quote:

The Oil companies tend to say one thing publically yet they continue to fund disinformation in secret.

They also have the legal and financial resources to wear their claimants down and stretch out class action law suits for decades. It is rare to hear of a group being awarded compensation - and then actually being paid it.

Big oil killed rock 'n roll, too, yeah yeah yeah.


;D

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Ahem,

How about continuing where we left off on the other thread?  You were going to tell me which part of the argument you had trouble with - and why.

- or is that too much like honest debate?