<story><title>The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/02/magazine/mag-oil-lawsuit.html</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>rayiner</author><text>What&amp;#x27;s tough and utterly ignored by this article is that it&amp;#x27;s not just the lobbyists who oppose you, it&amp;#x27;s ordinary people. There is a sincere and deep seated belief that it&amp;#x27;s morally objectionable to ask companies to answer for their actions in a court of law, that there are no alternatives to destroying the environment, and that such lawsuits threaten the existence of economies like that in Lousiana.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s why these politicians can take actions in favor of the industry with impunity.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Jones figured there would be a period of quiescence while the industry decided how to respond. Within hours, Jindal, who was in Aspen, Colo., at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, released a statement. “This is nothing but a windfall for a handful of trial lawyers,” Jindal said, arguing that the suit came “at the expense of our coast and thousands of hardworking Louisianians who help fuel America by working in the energy industry.”&lt;p&gt;85% of people in Louisiana buy this stuff up. They&amp;#x27;ll buy it up until all the oil is gone, and when the companies leave they&amp;#x27;ll have no jobs and their state will be a wasteland unfit for any other sort of economy.&lt;p&gt;To be fair, it&amp;#x27;s not just Louisiana. During the last Presidential election, Obama and Romney literally fought during one debate to show who was more pro-coal. There&amp;#x27;s no point in doing that if you&amp;#x27;re just after campaign donations--the coal companies can do their own advertising. No, such theatrics are to get votes in places like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, southeastern Illinois, etc.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/02/magazine/mag-oil-lawsuit.html</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>selimthegrim</author><text>I saw John Barry speak; had no idea he had a doctorate. Brought down the house, a real barnstormer.</text></comment>