If Climate Deaths Are Homicide, Who Are the Victims?

This post was originally published on Word in Black. By: Willy Blackmore When someone dies in a historic storm, or a record-breaking heatwave, who is to blame? The oil companies — which not only produce and sell the fossil fuels that generate the vast majority of carbon emissions but also spent decades covering up the pioneering science they conducted that showed such emissions would do devastating harm to the environment — seem like a fair target. A new legal theory being discussed at law schools across the country and will soon be published in the “Harvard Law Review,” as the Guardian reported, suggests that there’s a dramatic step to take beyond blame. Rather than suing oil companies in civil court over their role in climate change, the organization Public Citizen says that they can and should face criminal homicide charges. Every year, 5 million people die from extreme temperatures, while other climate-related disasters, including hunger and disease, kill another 400,000. If, as Public Citizen argues, oil companies could be charged with negligent or reckless homicide for both having tried to hide the fact of climate and have fought to limit efforts to fight it, who would be the victims? There’s...