The Duke Energy Corporation filed a motion to dismiss a Town of Carrboro lawsuit against it in Orange County on Monday, the first legal response by the energy giant since the case regarding its role in climate change was filed in December.
The measure, filed with the Orange County Superior Court, argues Carrboro’s civil lawsuit exceeds the local government’s authority by seeking to reshape energy policy decision that Duke Energy maintains it lawfully followed, and the town lacks standing under North Carolina’s common tort law to bring claims harm from global climate change.
“All agree that addressing climate change is important,” reads the introduction of the energy company’s motion. “Duke Energy supports addressing climate change, but it must be done in a manner that accounts for many complexities and balances factors reserved for policymaking, not litigation. Carrboro is, respectfully, outside its lane, and this Court must dismiss the Complaint in its entirety for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
Carrboro filed the lawsuit on Dec. 4 after approval of the legal action by its town council the night before. The litigation claims Duke Energy — which is the third largest corporate source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. — knew of the risks caused by burning fossil fuels for energy and “mislead the public about its climate harms,” claiming its government and residents suffered harm from the ongoing effects of climate change caused partially by those emissions. Carrboro’s measure also claims Duke Energy’s public relations tactics specifically led to the public’s “deception” regarding the drivers of climate change and deliberately promoted slower transitions to renewable energy methods despite the harm done by the current energy methods. The advocacy nonprofit NC WARN is covering the costs of the town’s lawsuit and shared an alert about Duke Energy’s filing of the motion to dismiss on Monday.
The anchor of Duke Energy Corporation’s argument for the court to dismiss the case is Carrboro’s judicial challenge of the company’s procedures “usurps” the policies set out by the North Carolina General Assembly and other states in which Duke Energy operates. The motion says the state court system would lack the authority to “meld the legislative, executive, and judicial functions into a transmogrified tort” to monitor emissions and shift energy and climate policy. Citing the “political doctrine question” — which is related to which branch of government holds responsibility for certain issues — Duke Energy’s attorney argues North Carolina’s constitution assigns responsibility for controlling pollution to the General Assembly instead of the courts.
Another key part of Duke Energy’s argument to dismiss the case is the difficulty of tracing alleged harms from climate change to the energy provider’s actions. The utility company’s attorney claims the global climate change experienced by all cannot be parsed to “hold Duke Energy solely liable under North Carolina law, separate and apart from the independent actions of numerous third parties not before the court.” The company also says municipalities’ costs suffered from climate change fall short of qualifying as a “traditional injury” under common law.
When reached for further comment by Chapelboro, a representative for Duke Energy said the company stands by its previous statement on the lawsuit — saying the energy giant is “committed to our customers and communities and will continue working with policymakers and regulators to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible.”
Duke Energy Corporation is being represented by the Smith Anderson business law firm out of Raleigh in the case. Matt Quinn of Lewis & Roberts is representing the Town of Carrboro in the lawsuit, and according to NC WARN, plans to file a full response disagreeing with the motion to dismiss by May 1.
Featured photo via Duke Energy.
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