There’s no shortage of reports from the far north about the effects of climate change. The new climate is much more obvious in the extremes of the world. What’s different about the situation in Kivalina, Alaska, is that residents are blaming several energy companies for their problems.

Lawyers for the Alaska Native coastal village of Kivalina, which is being forced to relocate because of flooding caused by the changing Arctic climate, filed suit in federal court here Tuesday arguing that 5 oil companies, 14 electric utilities and the country’s largest coal company were responsible for the village’s woes.

“There has been a long campaign by power, coal and oil companies to mislead the public about the science of global warming,” the suit says. The campaign, it says, contributed “to the public nuisance of global warming by convincing the public at large and the victims of global warming that the process is not man-made when in fact it is.”

Andrew Leonard adds this:

Exxon’s hefty contributions to climate change denialists are a matter of public record. And some day, the company’s efforts to forestall action on greenhouse emissions will come back to haunt it. Perhaps not in this case, but when enough oxen have been gored, legal responsibility for the damage inflicted upon the earth will be assessed. Exxon will be at the front of the line.