Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/06pdf/05-1120.pdf
Page Number: 25.0

Cite as:  549 U. S. ____ (2007) 

19 

Opinion of the Court 

observes that rising ocean temperatures may contribute to 
the ferocity of hurricanes.  Id., ¶¶23–25, at 216–217.18 

That  these  climate-change  risks  are  “widely  shared” 
does not minimize Massachusetts’ interest in the outcome 
of  this  litigation.  See  Federal  Election  Comm’n  v.  Akins, 
524  U. S.  11,  24  (1998)  (“[W]here  a  harm  is  concrete, 
though  widely  shared,  the  Court  has  found  ‘injury  in
fact’ ”).    According  to  petitioners’  unchallenged  affidavits, 
global  sea  levels  rose  somewhere  between  10  and  20  cen-
timeters over the 20th century as a result of global warm-
ing.  MacCracken Decl. ¶5(c), Stdg. App. 208.  These rising 
seas  have  already  begun  to  swallow  Massachusetts’ 
coastal  land.  Id.,  at  196  (declaration  of  Paul  H.  Kirshen
¶5),  216  (MacCracken  Decl.  ¶23).    Because  the  Common-
wealth  “owns  a  substantial  portion  of  the  state’s  coastal 
property,”  id.,  at  171  (declaration  of  Karst  R.  Hoogeboom 
¶4),19 it has alleged a particularized injury in its capacity 
—————— 

18 In  this  regard,  MacCracken’s  2004  affidavit—drafted  more  than  a 
year  in  advance  of  Hurricane  Katrina—was  eerily  prescient.   Immedi-
ately  after  discussing  the  “particular  concern”  that  climate  change 
might cause an “increase in the wind speed and peak rate of precipita-
tion  of  major  tropical  cyclones  (i.e.,  hurricanes  and  typhoons),”  Mac-
Cracken  noted  that  “[s]oil  compaction,  sea  level  rise  and  recurrent
storms  are  destroying  approximately  20–30  square  miles  of  Louisiana
wetlands  each  year.    These  wetlands  serve  as  a  ‘shock  absorber’  for 
storm surges that could inundate New Orleans, significantly enhancing
the risk to a major urban population.”  ¶¶24–25, Stdg. App. 217. 

19 “For example, the [Massachusetts Department of Conservation and
Recreation]  owns,  operates  and  maintains  approximately  53  coastal
state  parks,  beaches,  reservations,  and  wildlife  sanctuaries.    [It]  also
owns,  operates  and  maintains  sporting  and  recreational  facilities  in
coastal  areas,  including  numerous  pools,  skating  rinks,  playgrounds,
playing  fields,  former  coastal  fortifications,  public  stages,  museums,
bike  trails,  tennis  courts,  boathouses  and  boat  ramps  and  landings. 
Associated  with  these  coastal  properties  and  facilities  is  a  significant
amount  of  infrastructure,  which  the  Commonwealth  also  owns,  oper-
ates  and  maintains,  including  roads,  parkways,  stormwater  pump 
stations,  pier[s],  sea  wal[l]  revetments  and  dams.”    Hoogeboom  Decl.
¶4, at 171.