disease was the dust from both sources, and the real question is whether the dust from the swing grinders materially contributed to the disease. What is a material
contribution must be a question of degree. A contribution which comes within the exception de minimis non curat lex is not material, but I think that any contribution which does not fall within that exception must be material. I do not see how there can be something too large to come within the de minimis principle but yet too small to be material. A similar approach may be discerned in Massachusetts v EPA, when the US Supreme Court rejected the US Environmental Protection Agency's argument that its non-regulation of greenhouses gases contributed insignificantly to the claimant's injuries: Given EPA’s failure to dispute the existence of a causal connection between man-made greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, its refusal to regulate such emissions, at a minimum, “contributes” to Massachusetts’ injuries. EPA overstates its case in arguing that its decision not to regulate contributes so insignificantly to petitioners’ injuries that it cannot be haled into federal court, and that there is no realistic possibility that the relief sought would mitigate global climate change and remedy petitioners’ injuries, especially since predicted increases in emissions from China, India, and other developing nations will likely offset any marginal domestic decrease EPA regulation could bring about. Agencies, like legislatures, do not generally resolve massive problems in one fell swoop ... In the 2015 Urgenda decision, a Dutch court held (paras. 4.79 and 4.90) that despite the Netherlands global emissions totalling only 0.42% of the global total (for 2010), that was nevertheless a relevant a contribution to climate change: Therefore, the court arrives at the opinion that the single circumstance that the Dutch emissions only constitute a minor contribution to global emissions does not alter the State’s obligation to exercise care towards third parties ... The fact that the current Dutch greenhouse gas emissions are limited on a global scale does not alter the fact that these emission contribute to climate change. It is submitted that this approach is more generally applicable to the context of climate change litigation. Material increase to risk of injury In certain circumstances courts have made a finding of liability even where the claimant can not prove that the defendant's acts or omissions materially contributed to the injury, as long as he or she can show that they materially increased the risk of injury. 32