The mayor of Victoria, British Columbia told a local radio show she’s no longer convinced that launching lawsuits against energy producers like Exxon, Shell, and BP is the best use of the city’s resources towards the goal of fighting climate change, suggesting localities may be reconsidering such efforts.
The Victoria City Council, representing a city just a three-hour ferry ride northwest from Seattle, originally passed a motion in January in support of filing a class-action lawsuit against the world’s major oil producers to seek damages the city believes it has suffered due to climate change.
“Since we passed the original motion, I have had some second thoughts,” Mayor Lisa Helps told CBC’s Daybreak North. “I think there might be more prudent and more timely approaches.”
“Time is running out and fighting lawsuits is probably not the best way to spend our time when we’ve got a planet to save,” she added later.
Her comments suggest the appetite for such efforts, which kicked off in 2017 when local governments on the coasts filed nuisance suits against top energy producers, is waning.
“It was easy enough to say yes to the climate litigation proposal when it first appeared on the agenda,” said Stewart Muir, executive director of the Resource Works Society, which believes the lawsuits could create significant economic damage.
“This has been the case in a lot of communities where the seemingly innocuous proposal has been passed without anyone giving it much thought. It looks like this is what happened in Victoria.”
“When both the local chamber of commerce and the hotels association protested Council’s decision to buy into the climate litigation campaign, it appears the mayor might have started looking more closely at the issue,” he continued.
“As hoteliers and small business owners know, Victoria is utterly dependent on hydrocarbon-based fuels. The summertime cruise ship business brought 260 visits to the city’s cruise terminal in 2018, and those ships burn a lot of fuel oil. The local airport is a growth story and is currently expanding its departure hall to accommodate increasing flights.”
SEE ALSO: Canadian Business Groups Condemn Victoria’s Divisive Climate Litigation Push
Spencer Walrath, Research Director for Energy In Depth, a project of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, echoed those comments.
“It’s great to see Mayor Helps reconsidering her position on Victoria’s potential climate lawsuit,” Walrath said.
“It seems she’s read the tea leaves and seen that these lawsuits are going nowhere. Litigation will do nothing to reduce emissions and is nothing more than an empty gesture that delays real action on climate change. Other mayors and local leaders should follow her example and consider ways they can work with their local communities and business leaders.”
Since the original activity in 2017, the federal lawsuit shared between San Francisco and Oakland has been dismissed, although the cities are currently appealing.
Another lawsuit involving a set of smaller governments in California was sent back down to state court, a development that did not bode well for the plaintiffs.
After the numerous filings based in California, the zeal for similar legal action spread to East Coast governments such as Baltimore and Rhode Island in 2018.
Also, in November of that year, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations also filed a civil action, becoming one of the first non-governmental entities to file similar claims.
Read more at Free Beacon
Gosh, the mayor realized that fossil fuels are responsible for economic growth and citizens’ well-being? What a shock!
Next thing you know, they’ll be waving the “Common Sense” banner.
Cities are supposed to be run by smart people .
What kind of idiots think they are going to successfully sue suppliers of
a legal product , one that has produced the highest standard of living in the history of the planet and one their local economies would implode without .
Quit wasting taxpayers money on the ‘who knew ” bullshit and spend your time doing real work .
Who knows you might even get reelected to your cosy position and pad those indexed pensions .
Every time a politician opens their mouth and says we need to “tackle” climate change you know you are hearing from a very stupid moron .
Climate runs us not the other way around …just like always .
Perhaps the real question is why do these politicians want to eliminate a plant food currently greening the earth .
Meanwhile the City of Victoria dumps raw sewage into the play ground of Orca whales . Complete hypocrites .