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It’s no secret greenhouse gas emissions around the world are still rising. Like losing weight over the holiday season, shedding a few mega-tonnes is damn tough.

So, who is to blame? Or more to the point, who is being blamed? There is a growing trend to hold oil and gas companies culpable and even ask them to pay reparations for complicity in changing our planet’s climate.

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Overt examples in Canada are municipalities like Victoria, British Columbia, firing off letters demanding compensation. Now Victoria is moving towards a lawsuit. This is not unique. Last year, San Francisco and Oakland sued five oil companies for redress. A judge threw the suit out of court, but the accusations are a harbinger of more needling to come.

Philosophically, the whole thing is a head scratcher. After all, fossil fuels don’t emit anything. People who burn them in devices like engines and furnaces are the overwhelming emitters. So why are long fingers only being pointed to the purveyors of production and not as much to the actors of consumption?