There have been a variety of meritless lawsuits against power companies on a theory that power companies contributed to global warming, global warming contributes to property damage, therefore power companies are liable. Randy Maniloff discusses the case of AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co., 715 S.E.2d 28 (Va. 2011), where a power company (now joined by a state trial lawyers association on a motion for rehearing) unsuccessfully argued that these lawsuits created a duty to defend from its liability insurer.