Fed Judge In Oregon OK's NAM, API Joining Federal Gov In Quashing Youth Climate Lawsuit

[hatrack]

A federal judge in Eugene will allow trade groups representing some of the world’s largest energy companies to join the U.S. government in trying to stamp out a lawsuit filed by a group of environmentally minded youths seeking a court order to force the government to drastically reduce emissions contributing to climate change.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Coffin last week granted defendant status in the case to the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute. The groups represent scores of oil, coal and natural gas companies that rely on energy sources that emit carbon dioxide. They requested to intervene in the case in November.

The plaintiffs, meanwhile, gained allies of their own on Friday when two large Catholic organizations advised the court of their support for the youths’ cause. A lawyer for the youth plaintiffs in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene said Coffin “was wise to allow the fossil fuel industry into our constitutional case.”

The industry “would not want to be in court unless it understood the significance of our case,” attorney Philip Gregory of Burlingame, Calif., said in a prepared statement. He added that the lawsuit presents “a momentous threat” to conventional energy companies. The trade groups, which represent corporations that include Exxon Mobil, BP and Chevron, argue in court filings that a ruling in the youths’ favor would cause them considerable harm. They also assert that they are already subject to many environmental regulations under the federal Clean Air Act and other laws.

EDIT

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/33968375-75/story.csp

[kristopher]

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