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27 Aug 2002
WASHINGTON - August 27, 2002 - Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace
and the City of Boulder, Colorado filed a lawsuit today in the U.S.
District Court in San Francisco on behalf of their members and citizens
who are victims of global warming. The suit has been filed against two
US government agencies - the Export Import Bank (ExIm) and the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Ex-IM and OPIC are taxpayer funded
agencies that provide financing and loans to US corporations for overseas
projects that commercial banks deem too risky.
This legal action - the first of its kind - alleges that OPIC and Ex-IM
illegally provided over $32 billion in financing and insurance for oil
fields, pipelines and coal-fired power plants over the past ten years
without assessing their contribution to global warming and their impact
on the US environment as required under key provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires all federal agencies
to conduct an environmental assessment of programs and project specific
decisions having a significant effect on the human environment; however,
according to the complaint, OPIC and ExIm have refused to review their
programs' and fossil fuel projects' contributions to global warming
under NEPA.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace members involved in the suit include a North Carolina couple who fear their retirement property will be lost to storm surges, erosion and the rising sea level; one of the largest
maple syrup producers in Vermont who believes his business will be ruined as maple trees disappear from the area; and a marine biologist whose life's work is in jeopardy because coral reefs he has spent a lifetime studying and enjoying are disappearing at an alarming rate due to bleaching from rising ocean temperatures.
"We're nervous about climate change-if we have no maples, we have no farm income and the value of our land will be devastated," said Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace members Arthur and Anne Berndt.
Regarding the state of the coral reefs off the Florida Keys, Friends of the Earth member Dr. Phillip Dustan said, "It's tantamount to visiting Sequoia National Forest and finding 90% of the trees either dead or on the ground."
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and the City of Boulder view this suit as a critical first step toward compelling the Bush administration to take action against global warming, and to protect people from it’s dangerous effects.
After the city council voted to join the lawsuit, Boulder Mayor Will Toor said, "All of the work that the city of Boulder does to maintain the quality of life for our residents will be negatively impacted by the detrimental effects of climate change. We believe that this lawsuit is one way force the federal government to start paying attention to this critical issue."
For more information, including a complete list of plaintiffs, visit
www.climatelawsuit.org
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
