Peter Dykstra: Attorneys spring eternal

Want to see environmental health issues on TV? Don't miss the commercials

As springtime spreads over North America, the airwaves are rotten with lawn and garden ads – hoes from Home Depot, lawn spreaders from Lowe's and all manner of seeds, bedding, plants, topsoil and pesticides.


Lots of pesticides.

For the latter, I couldn't help but notice the most recent ads for the best-selling herbicide Roundup had a tagline I'd never seen before: "Trusted for forty years."

This could possibly be due to Edwin Hardeman. Or Dewayne Johnson.

In March, a jury awarded Hardeman $80 million, ruling his cancer was caused by his use of Roundup. The herbicide's active ingredient, glyphosate, is considered a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization.

Last August, Johnson was awarded $289 million by a jury that ruled his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was caused by Roundup use in his job as a groundskeeper. A judge later reduced Johnson's payout to a paltry $78 million.

Roundup was developed by Monsanto, which is now a unit of Bayer AG. Bayer is appealing both judgements.

Roundup Cancer Lawyer | 800-843-3245 | Monsanto Roundup Lawsuit Commercialwww.youtube.com

Or the new Roundup tagline could be due to the inevitable boatload of trial lawyers that have discovered a passion for Roundup litigation. There are now an estimated 11,000 cancer victims suing Bayer, claiming exposure to Roundup or other glyphosate products caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

This is quite a kick in the head for the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant. In 2016, Bayer acquired Monsanto for $66 billion. The St. Louis-based Monsanto's most valuable asset was Roundup. But the WHO finding, the court verdicts, and the prospective avalanche of new cases soured the deal. Bayer's stock price has halved since July 2017.

And the headaches for Bayer show no end. Amid those springtime lawn and garden ads, the whiplash lawyer set is buying local and cable TV time, trolling for potential new clients.

A firm called Knightline Legal runs glyphosate ads regularly on late night TV, with a slightly sinister-sounding announcer offering a chance at a big payday for alleged glyphosate victims.

Evidently a full-service firm, Knightline also runs ads seeking to snag victims of asbestos, talc, diabetes, bad chiropractors, pedophile priests, wildfires, and my favorite – Fournier's gangrene of the testicles.

For those of you unfamiliar with this aspect of American trial law, firms typically take on a case alleging monetary damage where the victims – often unable to afford legal help – pay nothing until the case is won.

Then, the victorious attorneys will take a slice— anywhere from 30 percent to 45 percent of the verdict.

In one notorious class-action suit, thousands of plaintiffs in Anniston, Alabama, received an average settlement of $7,765 for widespread PCB contamination, while several big law firms raked in millions. The firm of celebrity attorney Johnnie Cochran scored $29 million, while former Alabama Lt. Governor Jere Beasley's firm netted $34 million. The defendant, by the way, was a Monsanto offshoot company called Solutia.

RoundUp Lawsuits For Cancer | RoundUp Lawsuit TV Commercialwww.youtube.com

Individual cases like Hardeman's or Johnson's can provide potent justice for individual victims. Class action suits, not so much.

It may, or may not, provide some solace that successful class action suits can at least put a dent in the bottom lines of the biggest companies. The largest class action suit following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill cost the company $500 million in awards, and hundreds of millions more in defending the suit.

But those legal costs were probably well worth it for the oil giant. It took 19 years to resolve the case, and courts reduced the original $2.5 billion judgement to $500 million.

Plaintiffs, including fishermen and native Alaskans, received an average cut of $15,000. About one-fifth of the original plaintiffs died while waiting for compensation.

As I type this, with cable news droning out the latest Trump controversy in the background, a Knightline Legal ad fills the screen. The ambitious lawyers are soliciting clients to sue victims of talc. Baby powder, as sold by Johnson & Johnson and others, is blamed for ovarian cancers.

J&J has already settled at least three cases, and its talc supplier has sought bankruptcy protection. An estimated 13,000 other talc cases are believed to await.

So, our system tends to provide strong economic justice to a handful of clients like Hardeman and Johnson; maybe enough to buy a used Volvo for many victims; a new Gulfstream for their lawyers; and maybe a sting for defendants; and a strong incentive – or not – for polluters.

A greyhound dog resting in a small swimming pool filled with water and tennis balls.

Extreme heat events are growing more frequent, widespread and underestimated

A record-breaking heat wave sweeping across the U.S. and Europe is being driven by fossil fuel pollution and made more dangerous by nighttime temperatures that offer little relief.

Andrew Freedman reports for CNN.

Keep reading...Show less
The Golden Gate Bridge viewed on a smoky day.

EPA budget cuts may weaken wildfire smoke protections as air pollution worsens

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed budget cuts and restructuring could reduce air monitoring capacity and delay public health responses to increasingly toxic wildfire smoke across the U.S.

Izzy Ross and Matt Simon report for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
Pregnant woman on sofa holding stuffed toy.

Wildfire smoke and heat exposure before pregnancy linked to lower birth weights

Pregnant people exposed to wildfire smoke and extreme heat in the weeks before or during early pregnancy may face a higher risk of delivering smaller-than-expected babies, according to a new study.

Sharon Udasin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
Oil pumps sitting on a green field.

Republican tax plan would expand oil industry subsidies and cut clean energy support

Senate Republicans are advancing a tax bill that would provide $18 billion in new benefits to oil and gas companies while stripping or weakening key incentives for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Nicholas Kusnetz reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
a group of tall trees standing next to each other.

Trump administration moves to reopen 59 million acres of protected national forests to logging

The Trump administration announced it will begin dismantling a rule that has preserved tens of millions of acres of roadless national forest from logging and roadbuilding for over two decades.

Anna Phillips and Jake Spring report for The Washington Post.

Keep reading...Show less
Four towers in a nuclear energy plant.

New York plans new nuclear plant to meet growing power demand

New York will build a new nuclear power plant to supply electricity to up to one million homes, part of a broader pivot back to nuclear energy amid growing demand and grid reliability concerns.

Patrick McGeehan and Brad Plumer report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Amazon river with lush forest viewed from above.

California weighs Amazon oil imports after Indigenous leaders raise alarm

Ecuadorian Indigenous leaders recently traveled to California to protest Amazon crude imports, prompting state lawmakers to consider a resolution examining the environmental and human rights impact of this oil trade.

Steven Grattan and Godofredo Vasquez report for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.