The Modern Public Nuisance Movement Is a Growing Threat
A CASE OUT OF HAWAII OFFERS A SOLUTION
By O.H. Skinner
March 22, 2024FR172028 AP
The Left is running a full-scale effort to reshape consumers’ lives using every tool at their disposal, be that through regulations, product bans, or ideological lawsuits. A key part of this campaign is public nuisance lawsuits that seek to impose billions of dollars in liability on disfavored industries for “causing” amorphous, nationwide (or worldwide) problems like climate change, gun violence, or drug addiction.
The climate change public nuisance lawsuits are a particularly deep well of opportunity for leftwing activists and officials. Can’t stop people from buying meat through traditional regulations and legislation? Don’t worry, just say that meat companies have contributed to climate change and sue them for billions in an effort to all but stop them selling meat. Can’t stop people from buying gasoline? Don’t worry, just sue oil companies, car companies, or anyone else who sold a gas-powered product, citing climate change.
Just think of the possibilities for the Left. If climate change is a public nuisance under state common law, then basically any local government can sue the maker of a common consumer product, demanding money to “abate” the nuisance of climate change, which is to say demanding that somehow these companies stop the effects of worldwide climate change with their checkbook.
https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2024/03/22/the_modern_public_nuisance_movement_is_a_growing_threat_1020153.html
