Katrina survivors sue Big Oil over global warming

This video from Associated Press in the USA says about itself:

Judge: Katrina Flooding Due to Corps Negligence

A federal judge in New Orleans has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding from Katrina. (Nov. 19)

From the (Conservative) Daily Telegraph in England:

Hurricane Katrina victims to sue oil companies over global warming

Victims of Hurricane Katrina are seeking to sue carbon gas-emitting multinationals for helping fuel global warming and boosting the 2005 storm.

Published: 12:28PM GMT 04 Mar 2010

The class action suit brought by residents from southern Mississippi, which was ravaged by hurricane-force winds and driving rains, was first filed just weeks after the August 2005 storm hit.

“The plaintiffs allege that defendants’ operation of energy, fossil fuels, and chemical industries in the United States caused the emission of greenhouse gasses that contributed to global warming,” say the documents seen by the AFP news agency.

The increase in global surface air and water temperatures “in turn caused a rise in sea levels and added to the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina, which combined to destroy the plaintiffs’ private property, as well as public property useful to them.”

More than 1,200 people died in Hurricane Katrina, which lashed the area, swamping New Orleans in Louisiana when levees gave way under the weight of the waves.

The suit, claiming compensation and punitive damages from multinational companies including Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron, has already passed several key legal hurdles, after initially being knocked back by the lowest court.

Three federal appeals court judges decided in October 2009 that the case could be heard. However, in February the same court decided to re-examine whether it could be heard this time with nine judges.

Other companies named in the suit include Honeywell and American Electric Power, with the residents charging that “the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions caused saltwater, debris, sediment, hazardous substances, and other materials to enter, remain on, and damage plaintiffs’ property.”

They allege that the companies had a duty to “avoid unreasonably endangering the environment, public health, public and private property.”

A New Orleans police supervisor pled guilty February 24 in a federal court to charges of conspiracy to cover up the police shooting of six unarmed people a few days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city: here.

Amnesty International: Hurricane Katrina Victims Had Human Rights Violated: here.

Global warming threatens plant diversity: here.

April 2010. The Coast Guard, the State of Louisiana, and the Chevron Pipe Line Company (CPL) are responding to an oil spill from a pipeline in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 18,000 gallons of crude oil has been released. An area of approximately 160 square miles has been impacted by the spill- 40 square miles of marsh and 120 square miles offshore: here.

‘Legacy of Katrina’ report details impact of stalled recovery on mental health status of children: here.

Traces Of Katrina: New Orleans Suicide Rate Still Up: here.

New documentary takes aim at Army Corps of Engineers for their role in Katrina: here.

New Orleans Dumps FEMA Trailers – and Maybe the People in Them. Julianne Hing, ColorLines: “New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu delivered on his promise to shut down the remaining FEMA trailers in the city, though not in the way struggling residents would have hoped. As of Jan. 1, New Orleans residents still living in FEMA trailers parked on their property face fines of up to $500 every day they remain in the government-provided housing units. Residents received notice days before Christmas, the AP reported”: here.

Jordan Flaherty, Truthout: “Jury selection begins today in what observers have called the most important trial New Orleans has seen in a generation. It concerns a shocking case of police brutality that has already redefined this city’s relationship to its police department, and radically rewritten the official narrative of what happened in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina. Five police officers are facing charges of shooting unarmed African-Americans in cold blood”: here.

A jury Friday found five current and former New Orleans police officers guilty of shooting six innocent residents and then covering it up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: here.

Global Warming-Denying Scientist Hid Funding from Fossil Fuel Corporations: here.