From Comprehensive Liability to Climate Liability: The Case for Climate Adaptation Resilience and Liability Act (CARLA)

Moffa A

ABSTRACT: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) created a uniquely broad and powerful scheme of statutory liability for environmental cleanup of contaminated sites. CERCLA famously imposes strict, retroactive, joint and severable liability. One might wonder, especially through the lens of contemporary partisanship, how such a powerful, comprehensive liability scheme passed through Congress in 1980. In large part, CERCLA’s passage can be attributed to historical context that may appear wholly unique at first blush. Now, the world confronts another watershed of environmental history and past actors face a potential flood of liability. Much of the situation is different in 2022 from that in 1980. However, some important legal, political, and practical elements mirror those that paved the way for CERCLA’s passage. A statutory scheme for climate liability thus could serve as an important feature of climate adaptation policy as we move further into a century punctuated by the harsh realities of a changed climate. This paper not only analyzes the similarities between the eras in some detail, but uses that analysis as a base from which to launch a proposal for a Climate Adaptation Resilience and Liability Act (CARLA).

从综合责任到气候责任:气候适应复原力和责任法案(CARLA)

Moffa A

摘要：由于厌倦了等待联邦在气候变化问题上采取行动，各州和市政府已开始在气候变化政策方面发挥带头作用。各州和各市已开始对温室气体的主要排放者提出州普通法索赔。在博尔德县的使命者诉Sumcor Energy (U.SP.) Inc.一案中，第十巡法院认为，与气候变化相关的公害、私害、侵入、不当得利、违反《科罗拉多消费者保护法》和民事共谋等索赔应在州法院审理。虽然第十巡回法院的判决与先例及其大多数姊妹巡回法院的判决一致，但它选择不直接处理第二巡回法院在纽约市诉雪佛龙公司案中提出的论点，该案将类似的诉求保留在联邦法院，然后驳回了这些诉求。最高法院最近驳回了此案的诉讼令，这是正确的。与此同时，第二巡回法院可以在康涅狄格州诉埃克森美孚核心公司案中支持其姐妹巡回法院，从而避免出现巡回法院分裂。关于这些索赔能否在州法院进行的辩论将对气候变化诉讼产生重大影响。在没有联邦主导的情况下，各州最有能力处理这些诉求，并且可以依靠联邦制所带来的实验和创新。州法院对普通法的深刻理解将使各州有能力适应气候变化带来的新的法律需求。此外，为了应对联邦司法机构对环境保护的积极敌意，行政机构及其主导的环保部门将在气候变化问题上发挥重要作用。

文章来源：Moffa, Anthony. From Comprehensive Liability to Climate Liability: The Case for Climate Adaptation Resilience and Liability Act (CARLA)[J].Harvard Environmental Law Review, Vol. 47, Issue 2 (2023), pp. 473-528.