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Appeals court to rehear global warming case

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NEW ORLEANS—The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to rehear a case in which a three-judge panel of the court previously allowed a global warming nuisance lawsuit to proceed.

The lawsuit, Ned Comer et al. vs. Murphy Oil USA et al., was dismissed in 2007 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, which held that global warming nuisance suits raised political questions that were not appropriate for judicial review.

The federal appeals court panel, however, reversed that ruling last October and said that Mississippi residents and landowners had standing to sue energy and chemical manufacturing companies for their alleged contributions to global warming that intensified the damage the residents and landowners suffered from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The defendants appealed and the appeals court ruled on Friday that all nine justices will rehear the case.

The case stems from a 2006 lawsuit filed against a host of energy companies by a group of Mississippi coastal residents. The plaintiffs allege nuisance, trespass and negligence and are seeking millions of dollars in damages as well as injunctive relief.