United States Second Circuit

In an action seeking abatement of defendants' ongoing contributions to the public nuisance of global warming, the dismissal of the complaint is vacated where: 1) plaintiffs' claims did not present non-justiciable political questions; 2) plaintiffs had Article III standing to bring their claims; 3) plaintiffs stated claims under the federal common law of nuisance; 4) plaintiffs' claims were not displaced by the Clean Air Act; and 5) the discretionary function exception did not provide defendant Tennessee Valley Authority with immunity from suit.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/07/2006
• Decided 09/30/2009
• Published 09/30/2009

Judges

• PETER W. HALL, Circuit Judge:, Before McLAUGHLIN and HALL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, Peter Lehner, Bureau Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau of the State of New York, (Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York, Caitlin J. Halligan, Solicitor General, Daniel J. Chepaitis, Assistant Solicitor General, Jared Snyder, Simon Wynn, Assistant Attorneys General of the State of New York, on the brief), New York, NY, for State and New York City Plaintiffs-Appellants., Matthew F. Pawa, (Benjamin A. Krass, on the brief), Law Offices of Matthew F. Pawa, P.C., Newton Centre, MA, (Mitchell S. Bernard, Nancy S. Marks, Amelia E. Toledo, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., New York, NY, on the brief) for Organizational Plaintiffs-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Joseph R. Guerra, (Angus Macbeth, Thomas G. Echikson, on the briefs), Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, D.C., (Steven M. Bierman, Sidley Austin LLP, New York, NY, Thomas E. Fennell, Michael L. Rice, Jones Day, Dallas, TX, Shawn Patrick Regan, Hunton & Williams LLP, New York, NY, F. William Brownell, Norman W. Fichthorn, Allison D. Wood, Hunton & Williams LLP, Washington D.C., on the briefs) for Defendants-Appellees., Edwin W. Small, Assistant General Counsel, (Maureen H. Dunn, General Counsel, Harriet A. Cooper, Assistant General Counsel, on the brief), Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, for Defendant-Appellee TVA.