#honolulu

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"The Supreme Court said Monday [January 13, 2025] it won’t hear an appeal from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change.

The order allows the city of Honolulu’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies to proceed. The city’s chief resilience officer, Ben Sullivan, said it’s a significant decision that will protect “taxpayers and communities from the immense costs and consequences of the climate crisis caused by the defendants’ misconduct.”

The industry has faced a series of cases alleging it deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Governments in states including California, Colorado and New Jersey are seeking billions of dollars in damages from things like wildfires, rising sea levels and severe storms. The lawsuits come during a wave of legal actions in the U.S. and worldwide seeking to leverage action on climate change through the courts.

The oil and gas companies appealed to the Supreme Court after Hawaii’s highest court allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The companies include Sunoco, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP, many of which are headquartered in Texas.

The companies argued emissions are a national issue that should instead be fought over in federal court, where they’ve successfully had suits tossed out.

“The stakes in this case could not be higher,” attorneys wrote in court documents. The lawsuits “present a serious threat to one of the nation’s most vital industries.”

The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said declining to hear the Honolulu case now means the companies could face more lawsuits from activists trying to “make themselves the nation’s energy regulators.” [Good!!!]

The Democratic Biden administration had weighed in at the justices’ request and urged them to reject the case, saying it’s fair to keep it in state court at this point — though the administration acknowledged that the companies could eventually prevail...

Honolulu argued it’s made a strong case under state laws against deceptive marketing and it should be allowed to play out there. “Deceptive commercial practices fall squarely within the core interests and historic powers of the states,” attorneys wrote."

Kahala Hilton Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii (1984)

This article comes from a Summer 2002 edition of Transgender Tapestry, a regular magazine written by and for the transgender, transsexual, and crossdressing community in America. This article addresses two romantic couples, David & Leilani and Matt & Patrick, 3/4ths of whom are FTM, as well as Matt & Patrick's experiences during pregnancy as a trans man.