The fact that scientists have questions about their data is unremarkable; that's what scientists do. In the end of February 2022, the judge denied defendants' motion to dismiss the case . Tracy asked Mayor John Tecklenburg, "If you're not successful with this lawsuit, what does that mean for what you're trying to do here?". 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. In total, the cases accuse more than 40 fossil fuel companies of a disinformation campaign. Federal courts also ruled that lawsuits filed in the City of Baltimore, Boulder County, San Miguel County, and the City of Boulder will proceed in state court. October 23, 2019. The case is currently on hold in state court pending Supreme Court rulings in unrelated litigation involving auto manufacturers . However, the question about who should pay for most or all of the costs of damages from global warming was included in only one survey wave (N= 1,000; margin of error +/- 3 percentage points) and is therefore excluded from maps. Results are weighted to align with U.S. Census parameters. 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. 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. READ AN EXCERPT: "The Rule of Five," on arguing climate change before the Supreme Court. Why does this matter? 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. "The federal government has had the very same information that they're saying that the energy companies had going back to the 1960s and '70s and '80s. Several of these state and local governments are now winning major procedural skirmishes over whether federal courts or state courts should hear these cases. In essence, these companies and others areincreasingtheir use of the earths atmosphere as a free sewer for the global warming pollutants that flows directly from their operations, despite claiming their commitment to being more responsible actors. Tong is suing ExxonMobil under the state's consumer protection laws. Global warming, in turn, results in more extreme weather, droughts, wildfires, and flooding from sea level rise. The City of Annapolis is suing 26 oil and gas companies for what it calls the costs and consequences of climate change. Editor: Ed Givnish. We find that about half of Americans (53%) think global warming is harming their local community either a moderate amount or a great deal. Fewer think global warming is harming their community only a little (19%) or not at all (16%). 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. Underneath one of those rocks are the fossil fuel companies. The claims may parallel the New York lawsuit mentioned above, but could also include claims that consumers, in addition to investors, were deceived. 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. Toxic smog turns India's capital "into a gas chamber", Climate change lawsuits: Taking fossil fuel firms to court. Many Americans (29%), however, say they do not know or provide alternative answers. New York's lawsuit was initially dismissed in federal court and the City is appealing. 2022 Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, all rights reserved. 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 . According to Shell, climate change should be addressed through sound government policy and cultural change not by the courts. / CBS News. Alongside its core work providing a platform for Human Rights advocates, the Resource Centre runs several focused programme areas and regularly releases briefings and reports on areas of particular interest. Man 1096664, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in USA and registered charitable association (e.V.) Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. "Since 2017, over twenty states and local governments across the country have brought comparable state common law claims against fossil fuel industry actors," the judge wrote. Reply STOP to cancel. Msg & data rates may apply. "It's like any big project; you gotta look under every rock," Tecklenburg replied. 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. The pressure brought on so many fronts through this litigation may already be having an effect on the companies and on publicopinion, but it is critical to keep it up. "Filing this suit is about protecting our taxpayers and businesses from the growing fiscal impacts of climate change," County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) said in . Some responded, writing they are working to combat climate change. This fall, the U.S. Drought Monitor classified the entire state as in drought. "There's a study from, I think, 1982 in which they produce a chart that shows, as the levels of carbon dioxide rise, the temperature of our atmosphere will rise," said Tong. We are also seeing positive developments in several of the lawsuits brought by cities, counties, and states against fossil fuel companies, seeking damages for the costs these government entities will pay to cope with the climate impacts, such as sea level rise and forest fires. In addition, ExxonMobil and Shell said these lawsuits do nothing to advance that goal. 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. This changed abruptly, however, when a number of state attorneys general filed suit together and eventually used the legal discovery process to wrest access to very damaging internal memos. Climate Change, Energy, Science and Democracy, Kristy Dahl The maps reveal widespread agreement that fossil fuel companies are responsible and should pay for a portion of the damages to local communities. And the suit also cites a 1988 internal draft memo from an Exxon spokesperson advising the company "emphasize the uncertainty" of climate science. (In June, French energy giant TotalEnergies bought a 25% stake in Adani New Energy for $12.5 billion to produce and commercialize green . 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Charleston is one of more than two dozen cities, counties and states that are suing these companies (including ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips). 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. And Britain's. (An excellent summary of this litigation, is availablehere). in Germany (VR 38088 B). All of these lawsuits were originally filed in state court. The city's been battered by an endless parade of floods due to sea level rise. San Mateo County, Marin County and City of Imperial Beach full complaints Snapshot: In 2017, three local governments in California filed a lawsuit against 37 fossil fueld companies, including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. Unless the fossil fuel companies are successful in getting a federal appeals court or the US Supreme Court to put a hold on these cases (which seems unlikely), the plaintiffs will eventually be able to conduct discovery, which is likely to include requests for documents and depositions of fossil fuel company executives to find out sensitive matters such as: 1) when did the companies know that emissions from their products were causing global warming; 2) to what extent does their internal knowledge diverge from what the companies were saying publicly about climate science and climate change? For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded to the nearest whole number. You must be a registered member to view the CADEIO Care for Creation directory. Let's downplay the fact of climate change,'" Tong said. 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 . Because of that, we could be witnessing a pivotal moment in these cases. The world's most polluting companies are increasingly being targeted by lawsuits challenging their inaction on climate change and attempts to spread misinformation, according to a new report. But the early victories that keep these lawsuits in state courts may make such disclosure inevitable. Tecklenburg said, "I feel if you've contributed to the problem, that you should contribute to the solution.". Some point to a 1992 video, backed primarily by the coal industry, promoting the benefits of pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This means that in these four lawsuits, the cases will proceed in state court and under state law. 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. Similarly, internal pharmaceutical company documents about the opioid epidemic are now coming to light through litigation. ", 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. But on Wednesday, New York's lawsuit, alleging the company mislead investors, is set to go to trial in state . It is worth remembering that, in the early days of litigation against tobacco companies, plaintiffs routinely lost their cases, and saw little tangible benefit from the litigation. 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 city expects an estimated $3 billion in climate change-related costs. Find out more about our impact, who we are and how we are funded. The companies have six weeks to appeal. File photo by Josh Kurtz. Particularly stunning is the revelation that ExxonMobil used two sets of numbers, or carbon proxies, (i.e. And now, many cities and states are asking, who's going to pay for all of this? Hiring across the U.S. remained strong in October, Trump mulling 2024 announcement in weeks after midterms, sources say, Reports: Twitter set to lay off roughly half its staff, South Korea scrambles jets after spotting 180 North Korean warplanes, University of Chicago issues warning about students being drugged at parties, Man's 411-day COVID infection finally cured with drugs given to Trump, Selena Gomez opens up about bipolar disorder and psychosis. Since then, numerous cities, including Oakland, Calif., New York, N.Y., Annapolis, Md.,. In it, Dr. Sherwood Idso states, "A doubling of the CO2 content of the atmosphere will produce a tremendous greening of Planet Earth. Moreover, while some companies have pledged to adjust their business plans to align with the carbon-constrained goals pf the Paris agreement,the plans prepared so farare very limited and tenuous. On Tuesday, October 22, New Yorks trial against ExxonMobil begins. The Minnesota Attorney General followed on June 24, filing a lawsuit in state court against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute (API). (An excellent summary of this litigation, is available here). ", "So, your argument is, even if they didn't know everything, they knew enough? Federal Court Dismissed New York City's Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies. One of a series of 1991 newspaper ads from the Information Council for the Environment, an energy industry group. 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