Lawfare is not the solution to Charleston's flooding issues

Editor’s note: This article is an opinion piece written by Michael Burris, CEO of the South Carolina Policy Council – the parent organization of The Nerve.

It’s high time for Charleston’s City Council to drop its beleaguered climate lawsuit and continue to focus on the real solutions to our flooding problem.

Charleston’s City Council and its Mayor, William Cogswell, have proven their ability to work across party lines and government agencies to protect the city from sea-level rise and flooding. Unlike those efforts – which directly address the flooding impacts that our city faces, make communities safer, and create jobs in South Carolina – Charleston’s climate lawsuit against energy companies is a waste of time and money. 

Earlier this month, a state judge handily dismissed Charleston’s five-year-old climate lawsuit, which seeks to hold oil and natural gas companies liable for the effects of climate change in coastal South Carolina.

South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Roger Young made it clear that Charleston’s lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed because it seeks to regulate interstate and global greenhouse gas emissions, which can only be regulated by the federal government, according to U.S. Supreme Court precedent. A spate of state judges in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland have tossed similar cases on the same logic.

Judge Young pointed out that if Charleston’s lawsuit were successful, “municipalities, companies, and individuals across the country could bring suits for injuries after every weather event,” creating an almost “limitless” theory of liability. Such a legal minefield would signal that Charleston is not open for business.

Worse, a successful verdict would discourage investment in necessary energy resources, driving up household energy prices in South Carolina while only rewarding the San Francisco plaintiffs’ attorneys hired to try the case.

The Charleston City Council was expected to decide at its Aug. 19 meeting whether to appeal Judge Young’s unequivocal dismissal. The answer is clear: Charleston should drop its legal campaign against fossil fuels and focus instead on the innovative and effective climate mitigation efforts that are already underway in our city and state.

Take, for example, Charleston’s participation in the state’s oyster-shell recycling program. Through collaborations with community volunteers and environmental nonprofits, recycled oyster shells are used to construct reefs in coastal areas to provide natural surge defense and restore native ecosystems.

Charleston is also investing heavily in infrastructure to keep our city safe from weather events. As part of the $198 million Spring-Fishburne Drainage Project, the new Lockwood Drive pump station can now move enough water to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in two minutes. The city has committed additional tens of millions towards the Battery seawall expansion project, which will improve both storm drainage and walkability along the promenade.

And just last month, Mayor Cogswell signed an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to improve stormwater drainage. As part of the agreement, The U.S. Corps of Engineers will improve the structural integrity of our city’s hundred-year-old storm water tunnels and support the design of a next-phase Dupont-Wappoo watershed plan. These investments will ensure that Charleston is a safe and sustainable place to live for decades to come.

Our City Council and Mayor are doing the right thing by re-investing in our communities and natural ecosystems. At the state level we have seen commitments and investment into nuclear energy and liquified natural gas as we look towards the future of energy in South Carolina.  But amid collaborative projects that improve quality of life, build climate resilience, and sustain jobs, the city’s climate lawsuit stands out as a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.

The reality is that filing a headline-grabbing lawsuit is easy, but balancing vibrant development and environmental protection is much harder. Charleston should be known as a city that does the hard things well. Our City Council must take this opportunity to ditch its ill-fated legal campaign and continue real efforts to protect our coastlines and communities through real, measurable action.

Michael Burris is an 8^th generation Charlestonian, former naval officer, and CEO of the South Carolina Policy Council.