And maybe the people who never had reliable access to energy but suffer the consequences of excessive CO2 emissions? There are quite a few of them.
As is argued elsewhere in this topic, energy companies already have billed everyone for the benefits provided by their product. What the lawsuit is alleging is that they haven't taken responsibility for recklessly misleading the public about negative externalities associated with their product and that they should be punished for it.
Why stop at suing energy producers? Let's sue energy consumers too! Everyone knows their energy consumption contributes to emissions contributes to warming, so aren't consumers similarly liable?
Utterly asinine. One of few legitimate roles of government regulation is to address issues of externalities. This is an issue to address with regulation, not litigation.
You can sue people for illegal behavior. Simply consuming (or producing) hydrocarbons likely isn’t so nobody will sue over it. Recklessly disregarding a negative impact of a product you are peddling potentially is illegal, so people sue over it. Same as with cigarettes and opioids. Not sure why so many people are so averse to letting a court work out if oil producers can be held liable in this way.
What is pretty sure in my view is that future generations will hold us morally responsible for thoroughly wrecking the planet, between climate change, the mass extinction, micro plastics, cruelty against farm animals, etc.
As is argued elsewhere in this topic, energy companies already have billed everyone for the benefits provided by their product. What the lawsuit is alleging is that they haven't taken responsibility for recklessly misleading the public about negative externalities associated with their product and that they should be punished for it.