On Tuesday, the City of Annapolis, Maryland announced it filed a public nuisance climate change lawsuit against major energy producers and one trade association, with city officials acknowledging they began pursuing the case after being approached by a well-known “Keep It In The Ground” activist group funded by the Rockefellers.
In fact, this activist group connected the Annapolis elected officials with the California law firm it eventually hired to represent the city in its lawsuit. This marks the latest in a number of climate lawsuits against energy producers driven by activist efforts, what has so far been a losing litigation campaign.
Chesapeake Climate Action Network Pitched Climate Lawsuit
During Tuesday’s press conference in response to a question raised by a reporter, Annapolis Deputy Manager for Resilience and Sustainability Jackie Guild disclosed that the city was approached about bringing a climate lawsuit by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, which seemingly pushed the city toward hiring Sher Edling as outside counsel for its lawsuit
“I also received information from my contacts, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, who is busy with pushing towards energy efficiency and clean fuels. They asked me if I knew about these lawsuits and how they were progressing and I had some knowledge, and they thankfully provided me with some additional knowledge. I asked them about different lawsuits they were aware of and I started exploring some of the information they provided, and the law firm Sher Edling appeared again and again with the lawsuits that have been brought by the twenty-four other states and cities and counties in the U.S. that are suing the fossil fuel industry, and they by far have the most experience.” (emphasis added)
Read the full blog at EIDClimate.org.
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