Several municipalities are suing the major oil companies for causing climate change and for the large asserted costs of preventing and mitigating its purported damage in terms of flooding and other adverse impacts. Sadly, in politics as in life there are no free lunches, and while politicians may perceive litigation against the fossil energy producers as a freebie, the taxpayers in their jurisdictions may come to regret the officials' grandstanding.
The central reason for this stems from the large gap between the damage assertions in the lawsuits and the related disclosures made in the respective municipalities' bond offerings.
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