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Jeffrey B. Simon: While it’s true that carbon pollution is created by several sources, the burning of fossil fuels is the predominant one. Moreover, no industry has worked harder to distort the truth about the causes, breadth, and magnitude of climate harm than the fossil fuel producing Industry. Miami Living: Can you tell us more about your recent lawsuit against Big Oil? Jeffrey B. Simon: Multnomah County, Oregon filed suit against several members of the fossil fuel industry alleging that those companies, individually and in concerted action with other companies, misrepresented and/or concealed from the public their awareness that atmospheric pollution from the use of their fossil fuel products would result in extreme weather events, such as the heat dome that devastated the County in 2021. As a result, the County could not reasonably foresee nor prepare for the never-before kind of extreme heat that destroyed so much life and treasure. The case is currently pending in state court, where several substantial motions are expected to be litigated before the trial judge in February 2025. Miami Living: What makes this case so significant? Jeffrey B. Simon: While there are approximately two dozen climate accountability cases pending around the U.S., this case is unique because it’s focused upon an extreme heat event rather than harmful climate changes in general. There are a couple of other cases that focus upon a particular weather event, such as hurricanes, but I believe the Multnomah case is the only one related to a catastrophic heat event. That’s important, because of all the climate changes wrought by carbon pollution, extreme heat is the most deadly worldwide. And extreme heat events in historically temperate climates like America’s Pacific Northwest are the easiest for scientists to reliably link to carbon pollution. While there’s no doubt that carbon pollution causes and/or worsens hurricanes in the Caribbean, hurricanes occurred there before the fossil fuel burning era. But never in human history did places like Portland, Oregon reach temperatures like 124 degrees Fahrenheit, so models that compared climatic and atmospheric conditions to those that existed before the Industrial Age made the link to carbon pollution highly scientifically reliable. Holding wrongdoers accountable for the harm they cause is an essential use of the civil justice system. Those who break things should pay for them. This case will affirm that legal and moral imperative. Miami Living: In your view, what specific climate events in Florida could be linked to the activities of fossil fuel companies? Jeffrey B. Simon: The heating of the Earth’s surface temperature from fossil fuel burning has caused increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These events have included, not exhaustively, heat domes, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, floods, and freezing. Generally speaking, when those events occur in regions that have never or rarely experienced them, the more likely that carbon pollution is a driving factor. Miami Living: How can the legal and environmental communities in Florida, including in Miami, benefit from your research and approach to holding Big Oil accountable? Jeffrey B. Simon: Communities in Florida, including Miami, are compelled to expend large amounts of taxpayer dollars for emergency healthcare, social services, and infrastructure repairs due to climate-related impacts. Who should continue to pay for the destruction that fossil fuel burning causes: taxpayers or the companies that reaped enormous profits from the sale of fossil