The coastal village of Kivalina, Alaska, whose federal lawsuit seeking to hold oil and energy companies responsible for the effects of climate change was dismissed in November 2009 by the United States District Court, has filed an appeal to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kivalina sued two-dozen defendants, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC, alleging that rising sea levels that threaten the town are the result of global warming caused, in part, by the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions.  Kivalina sought as damages the estimated $400 million cost to move the 390-person village from its location on a barrier island to another site 2 miles away.

"The village is being wiped out by global warming and needs to move urgently before it is destroyed and the residents become global warming refugees," said Matt Pawa, an attorney for the village. "It's battered by winter storms, and if residents don't get some money to move, the village will cease to exist" Anchorage Daily News,  January, 29, 2010

The ruling by the District Court dismissing Kivalina's lawsuit conflicts with two recent Circuit Court rulings allowing similar public nuisance claims to proceed-- Connecticut v. American Electric Power in the 2nd Circuit and Comer v. Murphy Oil Co. in the 5th Circuit. United States Supreme Court review is more likely if the 9th Circuit upholds the District Court's ruling and creates a split among the Circuits.

Kivalina’s brief on appeal is due to the Court of Appeals on March 11, 2010.