Hurricane Katrina victims press lawsuit against energy companies

Washington (Platts)--18Dec2006

Duke Energy and other electricity generators must be held legally
responsible for contributing to global warming and the devastation wrought by
Hurricane Katrina, according to papers filed in a Mississippi federal court.

The 11-page motion, filed Thursday at the US District Court in Jackson,
Mississippi, is the latest salvo in a lawsuit brought by Ned Comber and other
people who own property that was damaged when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore
August 29, 2005.

Comber and the other plaintiffs maintain that Duke and other electricity
generators, such as American Electric Power, Southern Company and Xcel,
bolstered Katrina's destructiveness by emitting millions of tons of carbon
dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the environment.

Comber and his colleagues are seeking millions of dollars in compensatory
and punitive damages.

The energy companies have asked the court to dismiss the suit on grounds
that they have no legal obligation to curb greenhouse gas emissions. AES
Corp., for example, told the court last month that if there were such an
obligation, then "the father mowing his lawn" and "the mother driving her
children to school" also would be culpable for global warming and Hurricane
Katrina's devastation.

But lawyers representing Comber and the other plaintiffs rejected that
argument, saying most regular people "have no choice" but to use fossil fuels
for household equipment, transportation and electricity.

Large electric utilities, by contrast, "have power to make the kinds of
decisions that are unavailable to the average consumer," the plaintiffs'
lawyers wrote. For example, utilities could choose to generate electricity via
wind rather than coal, the lawyers said. "Thus, unlike consumers, [power
companies] are in a position to make choices about greenhouse gas emissions,
and so far they have chosen poorly," the plaintiffs' lawyers wrote.

It is unclear when the judge in the case will decide whether to let the
suit go forward.

--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com

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