With climate under consideration, think innovation, not litigation

The fight against climate change is a critical challenge of our time. To be successful, we must work together to develop and enact meaningful solutions. Some elected officials, including in Massachusetts, who could really help this effort, have chosen a different path. Instead of fighting climate change, they are engaged in a campaign of casting blame and political partisanship.

Since 2017, Massachusetts and a couple dozen of local and state governments have teamed with plaintiffs’ lawyers and private foundations to sue energy manufacturers, seeking to blame them for the impacts of climate change. But, as most people understand, climate change is a global problem to which everyone—not just a handful of companies—contributes. As proponents of this litigation have admitted, this litigation campaign will do nothing to address climate change. What it will do, though, is undermine solutions-oriented efforts. The manufacturing community is working hard to develop the innovative new technologies that can allow us to source and use energy much more efficiently so that we can significantly reduce GHG emissions.

This approach is working. The cost of wind and solar farms has fallen dramatically while output has soared. Cars, airplanes and factories have all become more efficient. This is just the beginning. Every major company— including traditional energy manufacturers — understands that climate change is a by-product of energy use, as well as other aspects of modern society, and is actively engaged in climate solutions.

Nevertheless, Massachusetts is leading this litigation campaign. What was particularly surprising about its lawsuit was the timing. New York had already filed a similar lawsuit, was forced to dismiss several claims for being groundless, and was in the midst of a losing trial where the judge called the assertions “hyperbolic.” Yet, Massachusetts filed a nearly identical lawsuit to New York’s.

In some circles, scapegoating companies may make for good politics, but it does nothing to advance real solutions. In a highly unusual move, a federal judge called out the New York and Massachusetts cases: “Are the two attorneys general trying to further their political agendas by using the vast power of the government to silence the voices of all those who disagree with them?” Politics is not a legitimate use of a state’s law enforcement powers.

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts lawsuit got its first look in a Suffolk County court when the court heard a motion to dismiss the case. While the judge has not yet issued a ruling on that motion, regardless of her decision, it has become clear that climate litigation against energy manufacturers has no basis and is counterproductive.

It is also expensive for energy consumers. The litigation campaign’s supporters have said that their notso-secret goal is to make it more expensive for people in Massachusetts and around the country to heat their homes, fuel their cars and power their factories in hopes it will reduce energy use. Sitting in a cold house, though, is not the answer we need.

Higher energy costs hurt hard working Americans the most. A 2019 U.S. Department of Energy analysis lays out the reality: “Nationally, low-income households spend a larger portion of their income on home energy costs.” “High energy burdens can threaten a household’s ability to pay for energy, and force tough choices between paying energy bills and buying food, medicine, or other essentials.”

Higher energy costs also can cost them their jobs. If factories, construction firms, shipping companies, retail stores, restaurants, and breweries have to pay more for energy, it will hurt their competitiveness and force them to cut costs elsewhere, including wages and good paying jobs.

Massachusetts already has the highest natural gas costs in the country. Can Massachusetts families and businesses really afford to pay more?

Massachusetts leaders still have a choice. They can join the important work of combating climate change or continue to get weighed down in a pointless blame game. What has become clear is that we cannot sue our way out of climate change. Innovation is the right, only and proven path forward.