檀香山：夏威夷州诉石油巨头气候案开庭，被告主张属“政治问题”应交立法机关
位于夏威夷州 Honolulu County 的檀香山市，十余名全球最大石油公司及行业组织的律师10月20日在当地法庭出庭，主张夏威夷州对石油巨头的气候诉讼应由立法机关、而非法院处理。州方指控 BP、雪佛龙、埃克森美孚等公司数十年来误导公众、隐瞒燃烧化石燃料对地球的危害。
代表雪佛龙、为全体被告辩护的律师 Theodore Boutrous 向第一巡回法院法官 Jordon Kimura 辩称，州方实质是要求法院裁决全世界应该燃烧多少化石燃料；气候政策自上世纪80年代以来一直由立法机关和州长在燃料需求与气候关切之间权衡，属于“政治问题”。他还指出，州方在年轻人气候案 Navahine 案中自己也曾主张气候变化属政治问题，用其英文原话说是“political question doctrine for me, but not for thee”（政治问题原则对我适用、对你就不适用）。
Kimura 法官对此表示怀疑：判定一则广告是否误导、公司是否有警告义务，并不需要法院设定排放目标——Boutrous 当庭承认了这一点。法官还指出，在夏威夷宽松的诉答标准下，州方诉状可以成立，并反驳了无人能追溯危害夏威夷的排放来源的说法。法官当日未作裁决。（GSM 据 Courthouse News Service 报道）
Honolulu: Oil Giants Say Hawaii's Climate Suit Belongs With Lawmakers in Court Hearing
Honolulu — In Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, more than a dozen lawyers for the world's largest oil companies and industry groups appeared in court on October 20, arguing that Hawaii's climate lawsuit against the oil giants should be decided by lawmakers, not the courts. The state accuses BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and other companies of misleading the public for decades about the harms of burning fossil fuels.
Theodore Boutrous, representing Chevron and arguing for all of the defendants, told First Circuit Court Judge Jordon Kimura that the state is in substance asking the court to decide how much fossil fuel the world should burn; climate policy since the 1980s has been weighed by legislatures and governors balancing fuel needs against climate concerns, he said, making it a “political question.” He also noted that the state itself argued in the youth climate case, Navahine, that climate change is a political question — in his words, “political question doctrine for me, but not for thee.”
Judge Kimura expressed skepticism: deciding whether an advertisement was misleading and whether the companies had a duty to warn does not require the court to set emissions targets — a point Boutrous conceded in court. The judge also said the state's complaint can proceed under Hawaii's liberal pleading standards and rejected the argument that no one can trace the emissions that harmed Hawaii to their sources. The judge did not rule on the day. (GSM, based on Courthouse News Service)
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：Wikimedia Commons CC0 / Christian Joudrey
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
