Trump administration sides with Big Oil in lawsuits over climate change reparations

As if it wasn’t already clear whose side it's on, the Trump administration has formally put its weight behind fossil fuel companies in two lawsuits meant to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate change. In response to separate cases brought by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division filed a friend of the court brief, backing five natural gas companies that are trying to get the suits dismissed. The cities argue that oil companies have pushed for unrestricted fossil fuel development in the face of evidence on climate change, which will now cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Now the cities want to pass along the bill for the coastal infrastructure they'll need to protect their citizens and businesses against the effects of a changing climate. In their argument for dismissing the case, the administration’s lawyers actually point out the wide-ranging impacts of the fossil fuel industry's actions: “If these Cities may properly allege injuries from climate change, then so can every person on the planet.” Well, there’s an idea.