This is why I read the International herald Tribune: for the amazing stories you never read about in our quality papers or, when you do read about it, they have become 'after-the-facts' stories talking about far away places.
Check this out: there is this really tiny Eskimo village called Kivalina, perched on a barrier island even north of the Arctic circle, facing the Bering Strait.
They are suing some two dozen fuel and utility companies. Reason: these companies are responsable for the climate change which causes the Arctic ice, which protects the island, to melt, leaving Kivalina's fragile coast exposed to extreme weather conditions.
What makes this lawsuit especially bitter is that one of the companies accused is Exxon. Remember the Exxon Valdez? Some 21 years ago (March 89) Alaska suffered the gravest oil spill in history when the Exxon Valdez sank after hitting a reef. They were convicted to a 2,5 billion dollar penalty, later reversed to a shockingly mere half a million dollars by the Supreme Court.
Exxon makes 2,5 billion dollars in two days because of the astronomical enery prices ...
Specialists compare this case with cases against the tobacco industry: a lot of class action suits were lost but finally ... suers won big and the tobacco industry has had to pay and adapt itself.
I'd say: Go Kivalina!
And as the Kivalina picture is copyright protected: here is where I got it.
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