Imperial Beach, two counties sue fossil fuel companies for money to deal with sea level rise

A number of earlier lawsuits against oil and gas companies failed because they focused on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, said Ann Carlson, faculty director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law.

“Here, this is a more conventional lawsuit” in the sense of asking for damages, she said. “The lawyers have done a very good job. The courts will have to take this seriously.”