Eskimo Village Sues Over Greenhouse Gas

A tiny Eskimo village, Kivalina which is inhabited by the Inupiat Eskimo Tribe (a federally recognized Native American Tribe), is suing more then 20 oil, power and coal companies. They are claiming that the large amounts of greenhouse gasses they produce and their products produce have contributed to the earth's warming, which is in turn threatening the village's existence.

Normally, the sea ice would protect the community from the ocean, but since the sea ice now forms later and later in the winter and melts sooner and sooner in the spring, the village are not protected from the fall and winter storm waves.

The economy of the Kivalina Village is based on salmon fishing and subsistence hunting of whale, seal, walrus, and caribou. Without being able to live in their village, they are stating that their whole economy would crumble.

"We are seeing accelerated erosion because of the loss of sea ice," City Administrator Janet Mitchell said in a statement. "We normally have ice starting in October, but now we have open water even into December so our island is not protected from the storms."

The lawsuit is being filed by the village of Kivalina and headed by two nonprofit legal organizations as well as SIX law firms.

My opinion- This is a sad thing that is happening to these indigenous people's land, but I am not sure that the courts will be able to help them. They are stating that it will cost 400 million dollars to relocate the village, which is a drop in the bucket when it comes to these multi-billion dollar companies, but how can they definitively prove that they are the cause? I hope that they don't lose their village, but even if they do win the lawsuit how do they decide when to leave, or what happens to those that want to stay? Will they get their share of the $400 million?

This just seems like an un-winnable lawsuit where the people of Kivalina will lose. As in most lawsuits, in the end the only one that will walk away a winner will be the lawyers.