John Scarffe, Boulder.  The Colorado communities of Boulder County, the City of Boulder and San Miguel County are coming together to file a lawsuit against Exxon and Suncor oil companies. All three Boulder County Commissioners, the Boulder Mayor and a council member announced the lawsuit at a rally on the Courthouse Lawn, 1325 Pearl Street in Boulder, at Noon on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones said the city and counties are joined with Earth Rights International, 350 Colorado, the Sierra Club and Earth Guardians in the lawsuit. “We share a common concern about climate accountability,” Jones said.

We are seeing it every day, Jones said, like the Four Mile Canyon Fire and the flood of 2013. Scientists are saying this is the new normal in Colorado. In the future, Colorado will see a five-to-ten-fold increase in rain and early snow melt.

Water will be ever more of a challenge along with increased ozone pollution and the bark beetle epidemic, this will result in an enormous price tag, Jones said. “Over the next 30 years, it will cost Boulder County $100 million to pay for climate change.”

As a result, Boulder has a new dimension. The entities are filing a lawsuit against Exxon and Suncor oil companies to help pay for this increasing cost. They are two of the world’s largest contributors to climate change, Jones said.

“We are taking on the largest and most politically powerful corporations in the world,” Jones said. “It’s time for climate change accountability.”

Boulder Mayor Suzanne Jones said Boulder County planted the seeds for the lawsuit and San Miguel County joined in with the unique needs of the Western Slope. It has been a team effort.

“It is unfair for the taxpayers to foot the bill for climate change,” the Mayor said. The damaging products from the oil companies are contributing to climate change. “They have acted recklessly, and we have been harmed by that.

“We are seeking compensation to adapt to climate change, and they have profited from their products. California and New York have already sued the oil companies. We are also on the front of climate change.”

San Miguel County Commissioner Kris Holstrom said the Commissioners voted to join the lawsuit unanimously. They recently had two micro bursts in the county and they are still dealing with that. This is the new normal.

“We rely on recreation, tourism and the spring runoff. Climate change is threatening the services vital to our economy,” Holstrom said. “We stand strong with Boulder County in taking this action.”

Marco Simons, general counsel with Earth Rights International, said this is a legal organization with more than 20 years of experience dealing with large corporations. The company is taking on this case pro-bono because it is important to fight climate change.

“When someone causes you harm, they have to pay for it,” Simons said. Earth Rights has sued tobacco companies, and other suits have been filed regarding climate change, but this is the first in the mountain west.

Executive director Micah Parkin, of 350 Colorado, said this is a critical point in history to preserve life as we know it. With the worst fires and the 2013 flood, climate change is being felt here and around the world.

In the 1970s, Exxon studied climate change and then hid the information and lobbied against pollution controls, Parkin said. This shifts the cost back to the companies.

Rebecca Dickson, with Indian Peaks Sierra Club, said they support the lawsuit. She was raised in the Green Mountain and Lookout Mountain area and when she looked toward Denver she could see the brown cloud. The pollution exacerbates asthma and lung disease.

“Americans understand lawsuits,” Dickson said. “We are spending massive amounts of money, so let’s sue the industry that caused it.”

Emma Bray, with Earth Guardians, said she is the plaintiff in the case of Martinez vs. COGCC. She is advocating for the health and the safety of human beings. The case has already had two trials, winning one and losing another. Another trial is coming up in June.

“Corporations are a major part of this problem,” Bray said. They deliberately misled the public, and the burden will be left to future generations. “It is our responsibility to move away from fossil fuels. We have the science. We just need the courage.”

City of Boulder Council Member Sam Weaver concluded the presentations. “Climate change is an existential threat to our world as we know it. We need to take collective action and we need you to be a part of it. Climate change is an intense, local crisis.”

Weaver pointed out that this month we are celebrating Earth Day. For more information go to bouldercolorado.gov.