Are Climate Lawsuits Beneficial? | EarthxNews | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   EarthxNews speaks to Law Professor Mario Loyola from Florida International University to find out if litigation is helping or hampering climate action.   About EarthxNews:  A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.    EarthX  Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.    About Us:  At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxtv/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxtv  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthxtv      How to watch:   United States:   - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV  - Plex   #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Eco-friendly #Conservation #EarthxTV #EarthX

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00:00According to recent data, the number of climate cases has more than doubled across an expanding

00:08number of jurisdictions over the past several years, as more people challenge governments

00:14and corporations for not doing enough to combat environmental issues.

00:19But as the lawsuits mount, so do the questions about whether the legal actions actually make

00:25a difference.

00:26Joining us now to discuss is law professor at Florida International University and senior

00:31fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Mario Loyola.

00:34Mario, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:38Let's get right into it.

00:39There's been a recent wave of climate-related court cases that could have broad implications

00:45for legal systems around the whole world, really, most notably in Switzerland, where

00:50the Senior Women for Climate Protection went to court.

00:55First off, can you just tell us about this landmark case?

00:58Well, these cases in general are trying to advance a theory of rights-based environmentalism

01:05in which, you know, under various theories, they're trying to make people liable for contributing

01:12to the carbon emissions that are supposed to be warming the planet and so forth.

01:18But it's a really bad idea, because, you know, climate policy, like all environmental

01:24protection policies, involves tradeoffs that hopefully in a democracy have to be made through

01:30the democratic process.

01:31Can you just tell us about what the outcome of this case was?

01:36So in this particular case in Switzerland, they found that some people had been contributed

01:47to carbon emissions that had warmed the planet.

01:52But again, tracing liability to where it actually starts is very difficult.

01:59Talk to us about how symbolic this was.

02:02Do you think it's actually going to make a difference in the end?

02:06I don't think that it will.

02:07These climate policies and the transition to a net zero economy, to a low carbon emissions

02:13electricity grid, is an extraordinarily complicated set of policy issues that, again, can only

02:19be done through the democratic process.

02:21Even trying to address it through regulatory means, as has been done in the United States,

02:27by which agencies step in where, let's say, Congress has failed to enact a carbon tax

02:33scheme, a carbon trading scheme, even doing it through regulatory agencies involves problems,

02:40because you're cutting the public out of making those trade-offs.

02:43The problems of cutting the public out of those trade-offs is even worse if you're doing

02:48it through the courts.

02:49Kinds of rights-based lawsuits, even if they produce victories, but at the end of the day,

02:57you may result in some people getting hit with liability, amounts that they owe, that

03:06they have to pay over.

03:08But none of this is going to affect the actual climate, because those are planetary.

03:16The climate issue affects the entire planet and can only be addressed by a successful

03:23clean energy transition, and a successful clean energy transition requires energy abundance.

03:30If climate policies produce energy scarcity, if, say, you're starting to reduce the supply

03:35of fossil fuels before renewable substitutes are ready in sufficient quantities to make

03:41up the slack, all you're going to do is produce an energy scarcity crisis, because people

03:45can't be without energy.

03:48And so they're willing to pay, you know, they're willing to forego other things that they need

03:52in order to pay more for energy.

03:54And so all you're going to do in the end is create a political backlash against climate

03:58action.

03:59So, if that's the case, then what else can be done if we have this renewable energy scarcity,

04:05and people are still concerned about global warming, what can be done?

04:12So the pursuit of renewable substitutes is great, as long as it's done through market-based

04:19mechanisms that allow people to switch to renewable substitutes when they are actually

04:24cost competitive.

04:26So subsidies are bad, because subsidies make it impossible for, you know, nuclear, the

04:34big plants on which electricity relies, like nuclear and natural gas plants, can't recoup

04:40their costs when solar is getting dumped on the grid for free in the middle of the day.

04:45I think the guiding principle here is that climate action has to leverage energy abundance.

04:51And that's why, if you want, for example, for solars to be able to contribute to a grid,

04:57solar energy needs to be backed up by a dispatchable source such as smaller natural gas plants.

05:03And so this has to be an all-of-the-above approach that has, where the market is allowed

05:09to transition seamlessly to cleaner forms of energy.

05:13If it's done in a top-down way, those policies are going to produce energy scarcity, and

05:18at the end of the day, a political backlash against climate action.

05:21Okay, Mario Laiola, thank you so much for joining us today.

05:24We appreciate having you on.

Are Climate Lawsuits Beneficial? | EarthxNews | EarthX

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