Climate Change Lawsuits Are Moving Inland

Boulder and two Colorado counties are suing oil companies to pay for the damages of climate change.

BOULDER, Colo. ― On Tuesday, just off a pedestrian mall that would normally be home to busking contortionists and firebreathers, local officials ushered in a new era of climate change litigation.

Representatives of two Colorado counties and the city of Boulder announced a lawsuit against two oil companies at a rally before nearly 100 citizens. The counties ― Boulder and San Miguel ― said heavy floods, fires and heat waves were becoming too expensive for local governments to pay for themselves, and that those who caused the damage should be responsible for the costs.

While similar suits have been filed from California and New York, the Colorado suit is the first from the interior of the country, a distinction not lost on the speakers.

“It’s important we have non-coastal voices to tell the full story about the impacts of climate change,” said Elise Jones, a Boulder County commissioner. “Where you might think of sea level rise, we think of wildfires, droughts, intense rain events.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-lawsuits-are-moving-inland_us_5ad8ee42e4b03c426dac8e81