Climate Change Dispatch by Patrick Hall on Mar 26, 2020
One of the motivations behind Rhode Island’s ongoing public nuisance climate change lawsuit against energy producers is to secure a “sustainable funding stream†for the state, according to recently released documents.
Public interest law firm Energy Policy Advocates (EPA) submitted the bombshell documents to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals this month, citing remarks from a senior environmental official for the state.
The Rhode Island official admitted that they couldn’t secure funding for the climate-focused policies and projects they wanted to undertake through the proper channels – through laws that would raise revenue for the state.
Instead, they chose to sue oil and gas companies in a money-grab attempt, and want their case heard in state court where they believe they stand a better chance of circumventing traditional avenues of generating revenue.
More: https://climatechangedispatch.com/ri-climate-lawsuit-funding-stream/
This is what happens when people don't have any oil, and wouldn't drill for it anyway, so they could tax the extraction of the oil. Instead, they want to directly rape the people who produce the oil elsewhere.
When the use of Hydrocarbons in the State (gasoline, diesel, NGLs such as propane and butane, Natural Gas (mostly methane), CNG, etc.) comes to a complete standstill, including marine fuels, heating fuels, and motor fuels, then they might have legal standing, imho.
In the meantime, the people of Rhode Island, including their Government, are consuming those fuels and proportionally contributing to whatever effect, if any, on the environment, including climate, and doubtlessly taxing those fuels as well.
IMHO, this is like participating in a gang attack, and suing one of the gang members on your own side because you think you got punched.
In lieu of such folly, perhaps the government of Rhode Island should consider measures (or the repeal thereof) to create an environment more conducive to commerce, and thus get its rake the old fashioned way: through taxes.
Of course, if they really need revenue that badly, they could consider an alternative: cutting spending.
