Because of climate change: California is suing the world’s largest oil companies

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The companies Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhilips and Chevron are hit by lawsuits, as is the trade association American Petroleum Institute. The state accuses them of “actively spreading false information” about the risks associated with the use of fossil fuels.

“For more than 50 years, the oil giants have lied to us and hidden the fact that they have long known how dangerous the fossil fuels they produce are to our planet,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said. California now wants to ‘hold the big polluters accountable’.

Oil and gas company executives “knew for decades that dependence on fossil fuels would lead to these catastrophic consequences,” says the lawsuit filed in San Francisco District Court.

Nevertheless, they withheld this information from the general public and politicians and “actively spread false information on this subject for decades,” the 135-page lawsuit continues. Because of this ‘deception’, society was slow to respond to global warming. The oil managers’ “misconduct” led to “enormous costs to people, property and natural resources.”

“By downplaying the scientific consensus on climate change and emphasizing uncertainty, the defendants hoped to delay any regulatory action (…),” the oil companies are further accused in the court documents. When asked, the companies initially did not comment on the matter.

California’s lawsuit seeks to establish a fund to cover the costs of future damage caused in the state by climate change, such as wildfires and floods.

(SDA)

Source: Blick