New York City joined San Francisco, Oakland, and other California municipalities in a fight against climate change, taking a legal action against ExxonMobile
For California officials, the lawsuit could be compared to their fight in the 1980s against major tobacco producers . As described by Barbara J. Parker, Oakland City Attorney, "Companies knew for decades that their products caused climate change and posed a catastrophic risk, but lied to consumers and continued to make enormous profits." The suit filed by the City of New York claims that Big Oil is responsible for 11% of all of the global-warming gases over years, selling damaging oil and gas products. Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, announced that besides the lawsuit, the city pension funds would divest from fossil-fuel companies. The divestment from 190 companies may deprive the industry of up to $5 billion. Previously, city pension funds cut funding to coal companies for the same cause.
In the lawsuit, de Blasio holds Big Oil accountable for the flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. 72 casualties were attributed to the hurricane in the U.S. overall, with 44 in New York. According to the official funding tracker, Sandy caused over $19 billion in damage to the City itself. The events of October 2012 were devastating for New Yorkers, who were left with damaged homes, businesses, and infrastructure. In his statement, de Blasio expressed hope that other big cities will join them in this legal battle.
Big Oil has adopted different strategies in the response to the attack. ExxonMobil shared on its blog that it supports the "well-meaning and good faith attempt to address the risks of climate change," but also notes that "the lawsuits filed against ExxonMobil and other companies seek billions of dollars from our shareholders - millions of ordinary people, mostly in the U.S., who've invested in our company." A Chevron spokesman indicated that "greenhouse emission is a global issue that requires global engagement." Shell calls climate change "a complex societal challenge that should be addressed through sound governmental policy and cultural change". ConocoPhillips and BP have not commented on this matter so far.
Climate change lawsuits have become a popular approach to call awareness to the damaging actions of governments or companies. In 2015, a group of Dutch citizens represented by the Urgenda Foundation won an unprecedented lawsuit against their own government. German energy company RWE
Lawsuits like these may proliferate, as more and more communities are emboldened to take action.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/nyregion/new-york-city-fossil-fuel-divestment.html
- http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/News/Press%20releases/Climate%20Change%20Lawsuits.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/01/10/new-york-city-sues-shell-exxonmobil-and-other-oil-majors-over-climate-change/?utm_term=.a2f6bc418485
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/01/12/bill-de-blasio-this-is-why-new-york-is-suing-and-divesting-from-big-oil/?utm_term=.e8c0d609f97f
- http://www1.nyc.gov/sandytracker/
- https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/perspectives/better-approach-climate-change/
- http://www.dw.com/en/four-climate-change-lawsuits-to-watch-in-2018/a-42066735
