Climate Change and the Individual in the United States

In the United States, no comprehensive climate change legislation exists, and recent developments have diluted federal efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Litigation may help to force government regulatory action and provide remedies for harm from greenhouse gas emissions. This Chapter focuses on lawsuits filed by individual plaintiffs and environmental organizations against public and private actors. Plaintiffs have based cases on federal statutes and regulations, common-law causes of action, and public trust. Proof of causation may be a barrier to recovery, and other issues (for example, standing and displacement) pose obstacles. Claims against public actors, for example, have asserted an obligation to protect the atmosphere as a public trust, an obligation to promulgate regulations that address greenhouse gas emissions, and a statutory obligation for agencies to consider the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in decision making. Litigation against governments and public bodies has sometimes resulted in stricter regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and more careful consideration of the effects of government actions on climate. Claims against private actors for damages, which raise issues of causation and apportionment, have rarely been successful. Individual plaintiffs seldom have the financial ability to bring lawsuits to mitigate or adapt to climate change; environmental and other non-governmental organizations are more likely to have resources to pursue climate change litigation.