Many companies and industries fail to reduce their emissions and adopt eco-friendly business practices. In the future, will they be held financially accountable for the costs of relocating people from cities and towns that are no longer livable as a result of global warming? The residents of Kivalina, a coastal native community in Alaska believes so, and for good reason.

The populous of around 400 is being forced to skip town because of mass erosion caused by flooding and large waves that were once prevented from reaching the shore by thick ice. The damage has become so bad that houses and city infrastructure are literally being swallowed by the sea.

As a result, the town is suing five oil companies, fourteen electric utility companies and the country’s largest coal company on the grounds of public nuisance. They are suing for $400 million - the approximate cost of relocating the town.

According to the New York Times, “The suit is the latest effort to hold companies like BP America, Chevron, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy and the Southern Company responsible for the impact of global warming because they emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases, or, in the case of Peabody, mine and market carbon-laden coal that is burned by others.” In addition, “those five companies and three other defendants — the Exxon Mobil Corporation, American Electric Power and the Conoco Phillips Company — are also accused of conspiracy. “There has been a long campaign by power, coal and oil companies to mislead the public about the science of global warming.”

Will the high-powered legal help of the multinational plunderers stifle the case, or, can the people of Kivalina successfully prove that the defendants’ actions have directly affected their way of life? Looks like it’s gonna be a tough case!