[csusbpeace] New Jersey Sues 5 Oil Giants, Industry Lobby for Climate Fraud
- From: "raccoon" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("bigraccoon1")
- To: "CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2022 07:53:28 -0700
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New Jersey Sues 5 Oil Giants, Industry Lobby for Climate Fraud
"We will work tirelessly to make sure these companies pay every last dollar
for the harm they've caused," said state AG Matthew Platkin. "If you lie to
the public to protect your profits, we will hold you accountable."
October 18, 2022
New Jersey on Tuesday sued five oil and gas companies and a leading fossil
fuel lobby group for knowingly lying to the public about the existence of
climate change and the role their products play in exacerbating human-caused
global heating.
"The defendants have known for decades that use of fossil fuels is a major
cause of climate change."
The lawsuit
<https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases22/2022-1018_NJ-Climate-Complaint-FILED.pdf>,
filed in New Jersey Superior Court in Mercer County, targets ExxonMobil
Corporation, Shell Oil Company, Chevron Corporation, BP, ConocoPhillips, and
the American Petroleum Institute (API).
The plaintiffs—state Attorney General Matthew Platkin, the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs, and the Department of Environmental
Protection—argue that "the defendants have known for decades that use of
fossil fuels is a major cause of climate change, but instead of warning the
public or the state about the danger, they launched public relations
campaigns to sow doubts about the existence, causes, and effects of climate
change with the goal of confusing the public, delaying the transition to a
lower carbon economy and future, increasing their own profits, and further
deepening dependence on their products."
The suit also accuses API "of playing a key role in orchestrating and
implementing climate denial campaigns on behalf of and under the supervision
of" the five oil giants.
Climate campaigners welcomed the lawsuit, with Richard Wiles, president of
the Center for Climate Integrity, saying in a statement
<https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2022/10/18/new-jersey-sues-big-oil-companies-climate-fraud-and-damages>
that "after lying for decades about their role in fueling the climate
crisis, these oil and gas corporations deserve to be held accountable for the
damages they have caused to communities across the country."
Oil companies including ExxonMobil
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/09/big-oil-knew-big-oil-lied-and-planet-earth-got-fried>,
Shell
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/02/28/shell-knew-too-investigation-reveals-big-oil-cos-decades-long-climate-lies>,
and Total
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/20/bombshell-total-knew-about-climate-threat-fossil-fuels-decades-denied-it>
have known since as far back as the early 1970s that burning fossil fuels
emits greenhouse gases that cause global heating.
According to Platkin's office:
The state is seeking to hold the defendants accountable for systematically
concealing and denying their knowledge that fossil fuel consumption could
have a catastrophic impact on the climate, causing the devastating
consequences of fossil fuel overconsumption: the significant sea level rise,
flooding, and extreme weather that have battered New Jersey's citizens and
businesses, requiring the state and its residents to shoulder the enormous
costs of rebuilding, hardening New Jersey's defenses against severe weather,
and making the necessary transition away from reliance on fossil fuels to a
more sustainable clean energy future.
Platkin, a Democrat, said in a statement
<https://www.njoag.gov/lawsuit-filed-by-ag-njdep-and-division-of-consumer-affairs-accuses-five-oil-and-gas-companies-of-misleading-the-public-about-their-products-and-climate-change/>
that the defendants "went to great lengths to hide the truth and mislead the
people of New Jersey, and the world."
"In short," he added, "these companies put their profits ahead of our safety.
It's long overdue that the facts be aired in a New Jersey court, and the
perpetrators of the disinformation campaign pay for the harms they've caused."
New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette said
that "New Jersey is ground zero for some of the worst impacts of climate
change."
"Our communities and environment are continually recovering from extreme
heat, furious storms, and devastating floods," he noted. "These conditions
will sadly only worsen in the decades ahead, leaving us scrambling to prepare
for a parade of harmful climate changes."
"All this while we rush to ween ourselves off the very products these
companies have long known would fuel our pain but deceived New Jerseyans
about, because keeping us addicted was better for their bottom line,"
LaTourette added. "It was wrong to mislead us; wrong to undermine climate
science; wrong to put profit over people and the planet that we share. It is
time New Jersey demands accountability."
New Jersey now joins dozens of states and cities that have filed similar
lawsuits against fossil fuel corporations in recent years, including
Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Baltimore, Boulder, Oakland, San Francisco
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/21/first-two-major-cities-sue-big-oil-climate-crimes>,
and Washington, D.C.
The suit's timing roughly coincides with the 10th anniversary of Superstorm
Sandy, which killed 38 people in New Jersey while causing around $30 billion
in damage.
"We will work tirelessly to make sure these companies pay every last dollar
for the harm they've caused," Platkin vowed. "If you lie to the public to
protect your profits, we will hold you accountable."
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