In Steadfast Insurance Company v. The AES Corporation, currently set for trial in Virginia state court next month, an Alaskan village sued Exxon Mobil and other oil and gas companies alleging the defendants caused harm to their village by contributing to global warming. Steadfast, an insurer of one of the oil companies, filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it owed neither defense nor indemnity because the CGL policy at issue did not cover global warming claims for three reasons: (1) global warming is not an “occurrence”, as defined in the policy; (2) global warming began before the policy date; and (3) the pollution exclusion applies. What will the judge and jury decide? Stay tuned for more details!

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Bob Cosgrove at .

Special thanks to Christopher O’Leary for his contributions to this post.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/03/04/107854.htm