The state of California filed a lawsuit Saturday against major oil companies, claiming that their production of fossil fuels has contributed to climate change and natural disasters.
The suit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California in the County of San Francisco, alleges that deception by the defendants caused a delayed societal response to global warming and that their misconduct has greatly affected people, property, and natural resources, according to court filings. [emphasis, links added]
The suit targets oil companies Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and the trade group American Petroleum Institute, which it claims promoted disinformation about climate change.
“For more than 50 years, Big Oil has been lying to us – covering up the fact that they’ve long known how dangerous the fossil fuels they produce are for our planet,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press release.
“It has been decades of damage and deception. Wildfires wiping out entire communities, toxic smoke clogging our air, deadly heat waves, record-breaking droughts parching our wells. California taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill. California is taking action to hold big polluters accountable.”
The timing of the suit was partially motivated by a decision from the Supreme Court in April that enables existing suits from local governments to enter state court rather than federal court, increasing the likelihood of a friendly ruling on a climate-related case, according to Politico.
The lawsuit asks the defendants to pay for a portion of recovery efforts for weather events and wildfires that the state argues were induced by climate change, measures to protect people from rising temperatures, water supply issues, and fortifications against sea level rise and flooding, according to the press release.
“California’s lawsuit does nothing to advance meaningful solutions to climate change and is a costly distraction from the important work that needs to be done,” the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project said in a statement about the lawsuit.
“This litigation has no legal merit, which is why it has already been rejected by the federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court cautioned more than a decade ago that courts are simply not the appropriate places to decide climate policy.”
In 2017 and 2018, eight local governments in California filed similar climate lawsuits, which have since advanced to state courts, according to Politico.
California’s suit is the largest of its kind to date.
Read more at Daily Caller
Pure grandstanding. What it does is keep Newsom and Big Oil in the headlines, on the taxpayers dime.
The Supreme Court will quash it.
One of the problems with such suits is that the oil company executives have bought into the concept of anthropological climate change. The most effective defense would be to prove in court that this isn’t happening. With carbon dioxide beyond its saturation point as far as being able to cause warming, such proof is easy.
California is already in massive debt. This exercise against some of the most essential companies on the planet is a gross waste of taxpayers money.
Can anyone imagine what it woul be like for America if Newsom was to become president? A bloody disaster !!!!
I think those oil companies should all decide to shut down their refineries for “maintenance” at the same time to show Newsom how critical oil is to his state. Due to a lack of pipelines into California they can’t easily get refined products from other states.
California can’t use oil that has been refined in other states at all. Gasoline sold in California requires unique formulation that the other states don’t do.
Newsom is even more bigger Pinhead then Moonbeam Brown was Way too much stupid Litigation to Line his Pockets