Joining me is Serge Dedina, mayor, Imperial Beach. Imperial Beach along with others all filed suit Monday. They are separate lawsuits but they are all represented by the law firm that shot the same long -- the same law firm. We have been leading the effort to evaluate the impact on communities and work on local coastal plan updates. We had connections, this idea of a lawsuit was thinking about how to pay for. There's no help coming from Washington or Sacramento. We need a mechanism to hold those responsible to make sure they can help us pay for it. To know if the sheriff reached out to others.! I'm not sure. We are surrounded by water on three sides. What kinds of effects you claim they suffered? In the last El Nino, we had the worst coastal flooding. We have chronic inundation. The south and is underwater for most of the year. We see just a little bit of surf in the winter. It's like appointing a dike and the water pours into the street. Our streets are literally underwater. You have been dealing with that. According to the study we did more than 30% of our city will be underwater from coastal flooding. We have is to do whether it's dealing with if a structure, two elementary schools that will be flooded. We have big price tech to pay to deal with this. Did memory of the tobacco industry lawsuit persuades you this could be a major case against the oil and coal industry? Absolutely. The issue, working-class communities cannot afford to pay the costs of what these companies are putting out there. The reality, these new about sea level rise and climate change, they knew their products contributed. The carried out a campaign for people thinking it wasn't happening. At the same time, they invested in improving their own facility to make them adaptable to sea level rise. They knew exactly what they did and the scientists were measuring the amount of carbon emitted we know exactly how much carbon they put in the atmosphere, they know how well the document said they were carrying out his campaign. The reality, they are responsible and they need to pay for the cost of the harm their products carry out. That's the new wrinkle in these lawsuits. The allegation the company's new about the impact about what they were doing because the industries have been sued before. They were sued most notably by an Alaskan village seeking money to relocate. They were unsuccessful. Do you think that allegation they knew and did nothing is the linchpin? Absolutely. We have there documents. We know exactly where all the documents, the reality is they knew exactly what you were doing. You look at the documents 30 years ago, they were making plans to deal with this in a rational, productive, responsible manner then they switched course and decided to carry out these campaigns to sow doubt in the minds of the public. Now we are going backwards. The reality, every community in California will be holding the bag for this. Either your head of the game or behind. We have decided to take responsibility at the city, states and international level to make sure those responsible will pay for the damage they cause. Is Imperial Beach going to have to spend any money? This will not cost us a dime. We are working with our city attorney. We have incurred costs in dealing with coastal flooding. We have to make major decisions like moving a sewer line on seacoast Drive which could cost over $10 million. This is a classic case of a David versus Goliath lawsuit. Do think you need more than three jurisdictions involved in the lawsuit to be able to have a chance? People lived in San Mateo County with the toughest, biggest waves in the world. You don't mess with Imperial Beach. We will hold everyone responsible for causing harm to our city and making sure our taxpayers, residents and businesses aren't left holding the bag. Is the next step seeing of a jawed -- seeing if a judge will let move forward. We will follow this closely. We are moving forward and we won't wait for the ocean to come at us and cover our community. This is the next logical step. I have been speaking with Serge Dedina, mayor, Imperial Beach.
Imperial Beach and two Northern California counties on Monday filed lawsuits against 37 oil and coal companies for damages associated with climate change.
The lawsuits allege that greenhouse-gas emissions caused by the companies have led to global warming and the melting of glaciers, causing sea-level rise that makes coastal flooding worse.
"Working class communities, like Imperial Beach, can't afford to pay the costs of what these companies, the products these companies are putting out there," Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said.
Imperial Beach and the two counties are represented by the San Francisco law firm of Sher Edling. Dedina said the law firm is absorbing the cost of the lawsuit.
Dedina said Imperial Beach will be the city in San Diego County most impacted by sea level rise caused by climate change because it is surrounded by water on three sides — the San Diego Bay, Tijuana Estuary and the Pacific Ocean.
Dedina said that according to a study the city did roughly 30 percent of Imperial Beach could be under water from coastal flooding.
