Rhode Island Sues Big Oil

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

The biggest, baddest, b-somethingest lawsuit to date: 21 defendants. Rhode Island AG claims the state has been uniquely damaged but Big Bad Oil. Don't they read the news about the other lawsuits against Big Oil on charges of public nuisance?

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Rhode Island AG:

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

The Docket number of this little puppy is PC-2018-4716.  You will find it filed in the State Court system of Rhode Island, at Providence  (Bristol County COurt House, in case you want to go visit and see it for yourself), but the Complaint is available on-line and I hunted it down.  It runs to 141 pages, with eight Causes of Action, including the puzzling one of Trespass.  It is obvious that quite a bit of work has gone into this one.

Here is the Front Sheet, listing the defendants:

You can see the entire case Complaint here:     http://www.riag.ri.gov/documents/KilmartinVChevronEtAl.pdf

Kilmartin is the State Attorney General prosecuting the Complaint, so they title the case in the docket files to his name.  

What I find interesting is that this case was filed in the State Court system, not the US District Court  (where these cases all lose).  My guess is that that is a tactical move intended to keep control over the case and get a friendly jury.  There is a long argument in the COmplaint asserting "venue" in the state court, I have not studied it yet, should be interesting and creative.  This one is not going away any time soon  (unless Defendants are successful in removing to the Federal Courts, which I anticipate will be the first move out of the box.) 

I also anticipate that more such suits will be filed soon enough.  The climate-science global-warming people are now convincing the lawyers, so lookout below. Witch trials will be coming soon, to a theater near you. 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

17 minutes ago, Jan van Eck said:

Witch trials will be coming soon, to a theater near you. 

Seems relevant:

Monty Python Witch Scene Script

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

31 minutes ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Seems relevant:

Monty Python Witch Scene Script

There is soo much about that movie to love (too bad it relates to present times in more ways than I care to consider.  Lock her up, anyone?).  Thanks, Tom.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

1 hour ago, Dan Warnick said:

There is soo much about that movie to love (too bad it relates to present times in more ways than I care to consider.  Lock her up, anyone?).  Thanks, Tom.

Monty Python's skewering of sacred cows is hilarious. Guess I should line up for my turn to get burned at the stake, though.  Mocking absurdity seems to be a crime these days.

Monty Python were mocking SJW’s before they were even invented

It is a worry when ideas that were quite rightly mocked for being ridiculous in the past have been accepted in today’s society as normal and people who question or criticise them are attacked as bigots.

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

Trespass? Trespass!

Tom, that last bit you quoted is a perfect illustration of the Overton window, no?

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

5 minutes ago, Marina Schwarz said:

Trespass? Trespass!

Tom, that last bit you quoted is a perfect illustration of the Overton window, no?

Hmmmm, perhaps the Lumberjack Song can illustrate how accepted and not-so-accepted societal and political contructs can become shifted incrementally throughout a range of the Overton window.  (My degree is actually in Sociology  : )

And getting back on topic, here's a leaked preview of the Rhode Island AG's legal strategy:

 

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

I agree with every single word. Especially leadershipification. (My degree is in English philology, I can't help it.)

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

1 minute ago, Marina Schwarz said:

I agree with every single word. Especially leadershipification. (My degree is in English philology, I can't help it.)

No wonder we can poke fun at and chuckle over silly word play.  I have at least a dozen different dictionaries, all old and dog eared, from pre Google days.  Most of them list etymologies after the definitions.  And I had 4 years of Latin in High School (no, I can't actually use Latin, but Latin provides almost 80% of the derivation of English words.)

[Rodent + 1,424]

15 minutes ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Hmmmm, perhaps the Lumberjack Song can illustrate how accepted and not-so-accepted societal and political contructs can become shifted incrementally throughout a range of the Overton window.  (My degree is actually in Sociology  : )

And getting back on topic, here's a leaked preview of the Rhode Island AG's legal strategy:

 

This hurts me. Deeply. 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

6 minutes ago, Rodent said:

This hurts me. Deeply. 

Can you show me on this doll where the words hurt you?

[Rodent + 1,424]

3 minutes ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Can you show me on this doll where the words hurt you?

 

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

You have got to admire their thoroughness, though. Parent companies AND subsidiaries AND Lukoil.

[Rodent + 1,424]

1 minute ago, Marina Schwarz said:

You have got to admire their thoroughness, though. Parent companies AND subsidiaries AND Lukoil.

And Citgo, no less. Something about blood and a turnip comes to mind.

[Rodent + 1,424]

"Defendants' Actions Prevented the Development of Alternatives That Would Have Eased the Transition to a Less Fossil Fuel Dependent Economy."

So basically, big oil refused to commit suicide?

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

AND Citgo.

19 minutes ago, Rodent said:

So basically, big oil refused to commit suicide?

The utter arrogance.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

3 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

I also anticipate that more such suits will be filed soon enough.  The climate-science global-warming people are now convincing the lawyers, so lookout below. 

Meant to be the first of a cookie cutter court case.  If any of these environmental lawsuits actually succeed, a string of carbon copy lawsuits will spring up, enriching lawyers.

[Ja’Nako Bezze + 36]

5 hours ago, Marina Schwarz said:

The biggest, baddest, b-somethingest lawsuit to date: 21 defendants. Rhode Island AG claims the state has been uniquely damaged but Big Bad Oil. Don't they read the news about the other lawsuits against Big Oil on charges of public nuisance?

An exact case just got thrown out of court in California

[JohnAtronis + 78]

5 hours ago, Marina Schwarz said:

The biggest, baddest, b-somethingest lawsuit to date: 21 defendants. Rhode Island AG claims the state has been uniquely damaged but Big Bad Oil. Don't they read the news about the other lawsuits against Big Oil on charges of public nuisance?

so are people in Rhode Island now kill whales for oil? Again

[Stephen + 67]

2 minutes ago, JohnAtronis said:

so are people in Rhode Island now kill whales for oil? Again

or they can do renewable 

[Ajan Bosnjacki + 27]

Maybe the gas and oil companies should shutdown all gas/oil production and delivery to Rhode Island.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

2 hours ago, Ja’Nako Bezze said:

An exact case just got thrown out of court in California

See, here's the thing.  In the USA, a plaintiff has two options:  (1) to file the COmplaint in the Federal Courts, or (2) to file in the State Courts.  I suspect the previous cases were at the Federal COurt level, as I recall some Judge remarking that "the science is sound, but it is up to the COngress, not the courts, to sort out a resolution."   Now, once a Federal Judge has issued that Opinion, it becomes at least a reference for the next Federal Judge to agree.  They do not have to, as in "must," unless it is at the Circuit Court level and the following case is also inside the same Circuit, which would not be the case here, but it would have some persuasive value. 

So the solution in Rhode Island is to file this vast, expansive case against all these defendants in a tiny little State COurt sitting in tiny Bristol County in tiny Rhode Island.  And the legal strategy is to keep it under their control in their little court.  Now the disadvantage is that I don't see how they are going to be able to collect the Judgment, the assets of the defendants are outside Rhode Island, and RI would then have to go file new lawsuits in other States asking for confirmation of their RI Judgment and allowing them to go seize assets in the neighboring State, and that gets complicated fast. So I suspect that what this really is, is a shake-down lawsuit to get some spare change to try to deal with the massive state deficits that have built up in lots of States that have long traditions of Democrats sitting in the State House.  And Rhode Island is a classic State with a one-party government, which has not quite spent its way into oblivion as has say Illinois or New Jersey or Connecticut, but is getting there fast.  And what better place to go look for cash than in the pocketbooks of Big Oil? 

I view this as corrupt, in the sense that it serves no legitimate social purpose to sue a producer of a perfectly legal good for what the State now finds is some form of deceit.  Did the Governor write some Letter to the defendants telling them to stop doing what they are doing and stop producing and selling gasoline?  Did the Legislature outlaw gasoline?  Of course not.  The State itself purchases and consumes the product that they are suing over.  

Rhode Island incidentally has an interesting history in law creation and defiance.  It was the only State that refused to sign on to the Prohibition Amendment, and RI was the State that developed the "rum-runner" high-speed powerboat, using Liberty aircraft engines of light weight to power the fast skiffs that would outrun the Coast Guard patrol cutters to bring booze in from offshore (typically, Canadian) ships lying out in international waters, loaded to the gills with Whiskey.  So once again they go back to their own little courts to create their own solutions. Amazing stuff. 

But remember: if each oil company settles out for ten million each, just to have the State "go away," then RI picks up 130 million just for filing some paperwork.  Think of it as a troll tax; you travel over the bridge, and the bridge troll comes out from underneath and demands a fee or he will bash your head in.  Same idea here.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Jan van Eck

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

4 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Monty Python's skewering of sacred cows is hilarious. Guess I should line up for my turn to get burned at the stake, though.  Mocking absurdity seems to be a crime these days.

Monty Python were mocking SJW’s before they were even invented

It is a worry when ideas that were quite rightly mocked for being ridiculous in the past have been accepted in today’s society as normal and people who question or criticise them are attacked as bigots.

That website is interesting.  I like the concept.

[Sebastian Meana + 278]

I wonder, how much will it take until somebody demands a company like Tesla, or Panasonic for being responsible for the environmental damages produced to flamingos and other wildlife in Argentina and Chile salt-flats due to the excessive use of salt water and the tail ponds filled with toxic lithium and various solvents and acids. Or for the exploitation of cobalt and nickel that uses large amounts of cyanide-based solvents in open pit mines

the environment sues tango can be played by two, as we can see in the bottom how this shale drill is destroying Pennsylvania environment and wildlife