Sherlock Holmes solved a case because the victim’s dog didn’t bark.

That meant the perpetrator was someone known to the victim and his dog.

My committee heard House Bill 1078, which would give Maryland’s Attorney General the authority to seek damages from those businesses “whose tortious or otherwise unlawful conduct has contributed to climate change.”

Representatives of the farmers and the builders testified that the language should be clarified so that a lawsuit could not be filed against them.

The fossil fuel industry, however, did not testify today.

The oil rig didn’t bark.

(If this bill is enacted, I made a note to draft a bill for next session requiring that any financial recovery from these legal actions be used to address the harms resulting from climate change.)