The State of California is suing some of the largest oil companies in the world for their half-century-long deception of the public regarding the environmental impact of fossil fuels in order to bolster their own profits.
The companies in question include the oil giants Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP, who are being accused of not only hiding information linking climate change to fossil fuel usage from the public, but also spreading disinformation to promote their products and downplay their harmful effects on the environment. “Oil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades — that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change — but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment. Enough is enough,” said attorney general Rob Bonta.
Communities all across the US have felt the effects of climate change, with California residents facing “record-high temperatures, an unrelenting drought, and unprecedented wildfires”, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Indicators of Climate Change Report. Now, California is demanding that the companies take responsibility for their involvement in the climate change crisis, citing the billions of dollars of damages caused by climate-related disasters such as drought and wildfires. Bonta proposes the creation of an abatement fund for these large corporations to pay their share in the effort to help mitigate and combat the effects of climate change.
In recent years, several other states and cities have sued oil corporations for similar reasons- such as the 2020 lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp by the city of Hoboken in New Jersey. The entrance of California, with its significant size and economy, in this ongoing wave of climate-related lawsuits marks a significant step in the fight against climate change. As Richard Wiles, President of the Center for Climate Integrity, says, “California’s case is the most significant, decisive, and powerful climate action directed against the oil and gas industry in U.S. history.”
