Like other U.S. states and municipalities suing the fossil fuel industry, Delaware says that the . The case for human rights due diligence laws in the United Kingdom, Weekly Update 02 November | Killings of Indigenous defenders protecting lands against mining & renewables, Business and human rights defenders in Southeast Asia, Operating in conflict-affected contexts: An introduction to good practice, Ukraine: Responsible business conduct in a war of aggression, Reflections on a week of negotiations on a legally binding instrument on business & human rights, Justice in the just transition in Mozambique, California communities lawsuit against , USA: Court of appeal denies company request to rehear case over state courts' jurisdiction in climate change lawsuit, USA: Courts rule climate change suits against oil companies can proceed in state courts, USA: Judge rules state courts are appropriate for hearing California communities' climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. She noted that. Anne Arundel County has filed a lawsuit against more than two dozen fossil fuel companies over the costs of dealing with the fallout of climate change. As a result, cities such as Baltimore (Maryland), Oakland (California), Boulder (Colorado), and New York City, among others, are suing oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron for knowingly contributing to property damage, economic injuries and impacts to public health caused by climate change and sea-level rise. Critics of the lawsuits against fossil fuel companies say the cases take their cues from a workshop held in La Jolla in June 2012 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Jan. 9, 2018: New York . Our 2018 Corporate Legal Accountability Annual Briefing Turning up the heat: Corporate legal accountability for climate change provides an in-depth analysis of these lawsuits and examines the opportunities and challenges for The California lawsuits are part of a wave of litigation against fossil fuel companies, alleging they not only contributed to climate change but actively worked to discredit climate science and . Copyright 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA, These 5 Communities Resilience Helped Them Withstand Danger Season 2022. Charleston, South Carolina is bracing for a long and uncertain legal battle. Nearly four years ago, the state attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts launched investigations of ExxonMobil for climate change deception; since 2017, several municipalities have filed lawsuits against major fossil fuel companies seeking damages for the costs of climate change adaptation and resilience. The new lawsuits join a growing number of California communities that have filed suit against oil and gas companies to hold them accountable for their role in driving climate change. Baltimore's lawsuit is the 13th to be filed against oil and gas companies. Terms, Conditions, and Privacy Policy. Similarly, internal pharmaceutical company documents about the opioid epidemic are now coming to light through litigation. Year after year, top executives heard it from their . Sign up or text "SCIENCE" to 67369. We are also publishing new interactive maps that depict the geographic variation in opinions about responsibility for global warming damages. The Minnesota Attorney General followed on June 24, filing a lawsuit in state court against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The pressure brought on so many fronts through this litigation may already be having an effect on the companies and on public opinion, but it is critical to keep it up. As a result, the lawsuit claims, communities in Hawai'i are now facing increased flooding, more extreme weather . Federal District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson ruled in County of Maui v. ", "No, it doesn't," Tong replied. ", Tecklenburg laughed: "Hope springs eternal, right?". We use cookies to improve your experience. in Germany (VR 38088 B). And now, many cities and states are asking, who's going to pay for all of this? ", Tracy asked, "The attorneys in some of these cases, though, would say that what they're doing is trying to hold these companies liable for deception. (An excellent summary of this litigation, is available here). ", "This is not an issue of who knew what or when, or who said what and when," Goldberg replied. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. He said internal company research done by Exxon and Mobil (which used to be separate companies) shows they were aware of the dangers of climate change since at least the 1980s. The lawsuit against it was filed by the family of 52-year-old Isidro Fernandez, a Tyson employee who died of Covid-19 in April . Events | Jobs | Media | Data Usage & Cookies | Contact Us. We may be at a comparable inflection point here. 2022 Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, all rights reserved. Charleston, S.C., expects to spend an estimated $3 billion to bolster the city's defense against rising sea levels. The city of Charleston filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state court against two dozen major oil and pipeline companies, alleging their products and the spread of misinformation about fossil fuels have . Statoil pointed out that previous lawsuits of this type had been dismissed for being a political, not a judicial, issue. Some responded, writing they are working to combat climate change. In a new nationally representative survey, we asked Americans how much they think global warming is harming their local communities, who they think is responsible for paying the costs from the associated damages, and whether they support lawsuits to make fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of local damages. ", Tracy asked, "Some of these internal memos from the company acknowledge uncertainty about this. While fossil fuel companies have been fighting to have these lawsuits moved to federal court, where they expect more favorable judgments, state courts will rightly hear these cases locally, where the concerns of residents are front and center. On October 10, the Massachusetts Attorney Generals office notified ExxonMobil that it intends to file suit against the company, claiming that the company acted deceptively with respect to the dangers of fossil fuel consumption. Some point to a 1992 video, backed primarily by the coal industry, promoting the benefits of pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Find out more about our impact, who we are and how we are funded. For example, asdetailedrecently in theNew York Times,ExxonMobil and BP have increased their venting and flaring of methane gas from their oil extraction operations, a pollutant that has34-86percent greater potential to trap heat than does carbon dioxide. Phil Murphy's administration sued five fossil fuel companies and their trade group Tuesday for "systematically concealing" information that the burning of oil and gas has. . Almost all of the lawsuits feature one central claim that oil companies committed a public nuisance, which is an unreasonable interference with the rights of the public. A blog on science, politics, and activism. Receive urgent alerts about opportunities to defend science. Exxon Mobil has previously dismissed such research as the work of anti-oil activists. Charleston is one of more than two dozen cities, counties and states that are suing these companies (including ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips). In the span of four years, theres been a flurry of litigation aimed at holding the oil and gas industry accountable for its role in spreading climate change disinformation and making the climate crisis worse. F or decades, the country's leading oil and gas companies have understood the science of climate change and the dangers posed by fossil fuels. Climate Change, Energy, Science and Democracy, Kristy Dahl Global warming, in turn, results in more extreme weather, droughts, wildfires, and flooding from sea level rise. By early 2018, we tracked 14 climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies around the world. Original article by Ken Kimmell and published by Union of Concerned Scientists. a hypothetical price on carbon which it added to its cost estimates for business investments). ", Climate change costs cotton farmers billions, Climate change measures on the line in the 2022 midterms, Major glaciers will be gone by 2050 due to climate change, U.N. warns, Europe temperatures increased more than twice global average, report says, "The Rule of Five," on arguing climate change before the Supreme Court, Mayor John Tecklenburg, Charleston, South Carolina, William Tong, Attorney General of Connecticut, "The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court". In the end of February 2022, the judge denied defendants' motion to dismiss the case . Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), A Roman Catholic Spirituality to Care for Creation, Declaration and Call to Action to Care for Creation, The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors, Ecumenical and Interreligious Guidebook: Care for Our Common Home, An Overview, Care for Our Common Home Interreligious Dialogue, Care for Our Common Home Ecumenical Dialogue. Because of that, we could be witnessing a pivotal moment in these cases. Perhaps most importantly, several companies have not even taken the most basic steps to put their own houses in order. The federal district court for the Southern District of New York dismissed New York City's lawsuit seeking to hold oil and gas companies liable for climate change harms. Several climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies and governments are now proceeding to trial and one suit may even yield a verdict soon. More than two dozen U.S. cities, counties and states are suing fossil fuel companies over their role in the increasing hazards of climate change. Be the first to hear about new surveys and studies. Fossil Fuel Giants Seek Billions From European Countries Under Secretive Treaty Fossil fuel companies in Europe are using an international treaty signed nearly three decades ago to challenge several governments' ability to take climate actionexemplifying why, critics said Monday, the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty is a major impediment to transitioning away from planet-heating fossil fuels and . On Tuesday, October 22, New Yorks trial against ExxonMobil begins. And determined children have filed lawsuits against the federal government and various state governments, claiming the governments have an obligation to safeguard the environment. He points to ads that look like editorials from ExxonMobil, as well as their executives' own words, including the 1996 statement by Lee Raymond (then the CEO of Exxon) that "the scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human activities affect the global climate. The Massachusetts suit focuses on deception to investors regarding the proxy cost of carbon, similar to the New York suit, but expands the suit to include new claims of deception to consumers. Defendants include 29 major oil and gas companies, one coal company, and the American Petroleum Institute (API), the largest trade association for the U.S. oil and gas industry. A majority of Americans (57%) also think fossil fuel companies have either a great deal or a moderate amount of responsibility for the damages caused by global warming. In total, the cases accuse more than 40 fossil fuel companies of a disinformation campaign. / CBS News. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The claims may parallel the New York lawsuit mentioned above, but could also include claims that consumers, in addition to investors, were deceived. Home / Support for Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Companies. New Jersey officials announced a lawsuit on Tuesday against Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips, and the American Petroleum Institute trade group, alleging the. Voters aren't buying it. On October 24, 2019, the Massachusetts attorney general filed suit against ExxonMobil in state court. But the fossil fuel companies removed them to federal court, contending that federal law should preempt state law, and that federal law allows no such lawsuits. This means that in these four lawsuits, the cases will proceed in state court and under state law. In the span of four years, there's been a flurry of litigation aimed at holding the oil and gas industry accountable for its role in spreading climate . RT @_MikeMeno: Want to understand climate accountability lawsuits against fossil fuel companies? In addition to these existing lawsuits, another big one appears to be on the way. Two federal courts agreed with that argument and dismissed cases brought by San Francisco, Oakland and New York City. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) on Tuesday announced a lawsuit against five fossil fuel companies and the American Petroleum Institute (API), alleging they misled the public on . In addition, 57% of the public supports making fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of the damages to local communities caused by carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels. The total sample size was 5,131, with an average margin of error of +/- 1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. New York's lawsuit was initially dismissed in federal court and the City is appealing. "Because the fact is, that they knew with a fair degree of certainty that there could be serious catastrophic effects from the continued use of fossil fuels. Last year, Italy's competition authority fined energy giant Eni SpA 5 million euros ($5.94 million) for ads claiming that its diesel was "green" and helped the environment. If you'd prefer to view all available content regardless of language, please change this switch. Until recently, the litigation has been mired in procedural mattersbut we're beginning to see significant progress. The case is ongoing. Disclaimer: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and its collaborative partners take no position on the diverse views presented in linked material within the database, nor can we guarantee the factual accuracy of all the articles and reports we make available. Tecklenburg said, "I feel if you've contributed to the problem, that you should contribute to the solution.". Yale University. Although we have seen some statements of support by fossil fuel companies for policies such as a national carbon fee and dividend, and even some thoughtful deep decarbonization scenarios, the industry for the most part continues to fight vigorously against climate policies, such as recently spending $30 million to defeat a carbon tax initiative in Washington state. But the early victories that keep these lawsuits in state courts may make such disclosure inevitable. The lawsuit alleges that, for years, ExxonMobil misled investors about the value of its fossil fuel assets and the risks to its portfolio posed by robust climate policies to limit global warming emissions. Does that strengthen the company's argument that this was not settled science? While several US states and cities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies for "greenwashing" in recent years, three environmental groups took a different route in March when they launched a landmark lawsuit against Chevron Corp. Man ", Lazarus said even if the cities and states prove the fossil fuel companies deceived the public about climate change, it doesn't necessarily mean they will win: "They've done a really good job of showing that the oil and gas industry, I think, engaged in fraudulent activity. The fact that this litigation is actually coming to trial represents a monumental success, and it could open the floodgates for many more lawsuits if it is successful, including investor class action cases. Snapshot: In 2017, three local governments in California filed a lawsuit against 37 fossil fueld companies, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. If that lawsuit is filed, it appears that it will be based on the states unfair and deceptive practices act, a broad law that allows the state attorney general (and private parties) to sue when a company commits fraud or other related wrongful practices. The oil and gas company, which is nearly entirely state-owned, said Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022, it also saw a 90% surge in net profits for the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same time last year . The lawsuit alleges that, for years, ExxonMobil misled investors about the value of its fossil fuel assets and the risks to its portfolio posed by . Editor: Ed Givnish. Cultural Heritage Loss and Damage Goes Ignored. Why does this matter? Perhaps most importantly, several companies have not even taken the most basic steps to put their own houses in order. "So, in some ways, it is a bit of a money grab?" As a result, percentages in a given chart may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. This from @amywestervelt and @mathsavage is a great overview of the 20+ local govt plaintiffs, the legal arguments, where the cases standand why Big Oil is running scared. First published on April 17, 2022 / 9:50 AM. 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA I expect the companies to work hard to resist this disclosure of documents and internal information; so far they have already used their vast legal and financial resources to try to intimidate elected officials and advocacy groups, including ours. Supreme Court Case Could Limit Future Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Industry The court heard arguments on a technical legal question in a case that demands fossil fuel companies help. This section contains a selection of key portals curated by our global team. A studypublished by Nature Climate Changein June found that, across 73 lawsuits targeting the fossil fuel industry, no significant attempt to clearly establish that climate change had caused ecological breakdown had been made. This conflict between the publicly disclosed and privately applied carbon price could have misled investors into believing that ExxonMobil was factoring in the social cost of carbon when making business investment decisions, when it actually was using an artificially lower price that, for example, inflated the value of risky assets such as tar sand holdings in Canada. Former Contributor. A new barrier to climate action is opening up in an obscure and secretive part of international trade law which fossil fuel investors are using to sue countries if policy decisions go against them. Fewer (30%) somewhat or strongly oppose this idea, while the remainder do not have an opinion. On 17 July 2017, three local governments in California (San Mateo County, Marin County, and the City of Imperial Beach) filed a lawsuit against 37 fossil fuel companies including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, Shell and Statoil. Underneath one of those rocks are the fossil fuel companies. So far, the industry has filed a series of motions, slowing down the cases. One carbon proxy had a high range of prices to show investors that the company was factoring in the cost of global warming emissions in its business decisions, but a second carbon proxy had a lower, undisclosed carbon price that it used for actual business decisions. So, the city is raising large parts of its existing sea wall, and the Army Corps of Engineers says Charleston should build another eight miles of wall. It is the third lawsuit filed in the last few months targeting API, which had been left out of an earlier wave of climate lawsuits. April 19, 2022. Msg & data rates may apply. The question is, what we're gonna do about it today? You're browsing our English site, so by default we are only showing content in English. Until recently, the litigation has seemed to have been mired in procedural matters but, in the last few months, we have begun to see significant progress on many fronts.
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