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Showing papers in "Golden Gate University Law Review in 2005"


Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, the applicability of public nuisance law to petro pollution is explored, and the feasibility of Cali-fornia common-law products liability and public-nuisance suits against petro defendants, namely petroleum fuel and internal combustion engine (ICE) manufacturers, is discussed.
Abstract: who originated the idea of modeling a suit against the petro industry on the tobacco litigation. I would also like to thank Portia Cohen, for supplying me with background information for this Comment and Cliff Rechtschaffen for offering insightful comments and advice. Thank you to my editors Gregory Paul and Patrick Williams for laboring through the longest paper on Law Review amidst their busy schedules. Thank you also to Ben Hum-phreys and Greg Golino for expending their time to ensure the accuracy of the sources. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for the love and support that enables me to pursue my dreams. SUMMARY: ... The petroleum industry (hereinafter \"petro industry\"), from start to finish, pollutes the environment. ... Lastly, Section III explores the applicability of public nuisance law to petro pollution, proposing that suits by both the California Attorney General and private litigants alleging public nuisance against petroleum fuel and ICE manufacturers could obtain injunctive and civil penalty relief to abate public health and environmental harms. ... The petro industry has failed to warn the public of health harms and opposed all efforts to lowering fuel economy. ... The feasibility of Cali-fornia common-law products liability and public-nuisance suits against petro defendants, namely petroleum fuel and internal combustion engine (\"ICE\") manufacturers, will thus be the focus of this Comment, though the same theories can be applied in other states. ... There are only two cases based on common-law theories of products liability and nuisance brought against the petro industry for motor-vehicle emissions-related harms. ... This implies that a petro fuel manufacturer may be liable if it is proven individually that its product was a substantial factor in contributing to harm, without requiring tracing the harm to a particular gallon of gas as the cause of the injury. ... HIGHLIGHT: \"If we can send humans to the moon and store encyclopedias' worth of information on something the size of a coin, why aren't we driving fuel-efficient vehicles that don't pollute?\" n1 TEXT: [*1] INTRODUCTION The petroleum industry (hereinafter \"petro industry\"), from start to finish, pollutes the environment. n2 Oil production facilities spill and leak toxic chemicals, transport operations have frequent accidents, refineries discharge large amounts of toxic by-products, n3 and underground storage tanks leak gasoline constituents into the soil and drinking water. n4 Automobiles emit [*2] pollutants that cause health harms, smog, climate change, and a hole …

9 citations