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California sues oil giants for downplaying risks posed by fossil fuels

Published 09/16/2023, 06:44 AM
Updated 09/16/2023, 06:31 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of oil drilling equipment on federal land near Fellows, California, U.S., April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Nichola Groom/File Photo
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(Reuters) -The state of California has sued major oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), Shell PLC (LON:SHEL), and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), accusing them of playing down the risks posed by fossil fuels, according to a court filing on Friday.

The lawsuit, which also targets BP (NYSE:BP) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), alleges the energy giants' actions have caused tens of billions of dollars in damages and accuses them of deceiving the public, the filing in a superior court in San Francisco showed.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, has also been listed as a defendant in the case, according to the filing.

California has sought the creation of an abatement fund to pay for future damages caused by climate-related disasters in the state, the filing showed.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, "California is taking action to hold big polluters accountable."

The legal action follows dozens of lawsuits filed in recent years against the fossil fuel industry by states and municipalities across the United States broadly alleging harms from climate impacts including extreme weather.

The American Petroleum Institute said that climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system, in an emailed response to Reuters.

Shell echoed that sentiment in an emailed statement, saying "We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change."

BP declined to comment while Chevron and ConocoPhillips did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Exxon Mobil could not immediately be reached.

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Latest comments

I bet Gavin has a retirement home in Texas or Florida
I hope the judge fines CA millions for this frivolous lawsuit.  CA continues to show the rest of the country that it is ruled by total idiots.
so much love for oil 🥰
California is going broke. How disingenuous for them to sue big oil after they benefited for decades. They see deep pockets. It's all about the money.
When the lights go out, some politcians will run as hard as they can.
Commiefornia wants to use the weather as an excuse to sue oil companies. I wish we could just kick them out of the Union .
Really only big oil trolls here
So many bought off judges who won't throw this out. Californian's need to sue the current government here for downplaying the cost of living in this State. They are all thieves. Maximus is a Ukraine bot
Mr. Newson wants others to pay for his failures. Politics, he wont win and he will add more debt by using taxpayers funds for this nonsense
Democrats want to see America destroyed.
All these oil companies should SUE California for defamation.  $1 TRILLION in damages.   Do it.
Classic Commiefornia move. There's a reason people are fleeing that god forsaken state
So I do believe we have caused global warming, through the use of fossil fuels, this lawsuit is really without merit and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
This is the problem. People with no science background believe this manufactured pop science because they push lies in the mainstream press. There is no evidence, only models with politics driving the outcomes. Last ice age ended 12k years ago, Been warming since.
Oil companies should counter sue for defamation. States doing it for votes.
Oil companies should counter sue for defamation. States doing it for votes.
Once again government bureaucrats lining their pockets, and trying to appear useful, with these lawsuits.  It is the consumer who ultimately pays through higher fuel prices, and shareholders which include retirement funds, while seeing none of the payouts from the lawsuits if successful.  Besides, the government has been using our tax dollars to fund research into the damaging effects of fossil fuels for decades, so what the oil companies were saying should be irrelevant. These frivolous lawsuits are just political theatre that hurt everyone except the government, through higher prices and lower returns on retirement funds.
can the people sue the State of California for downplaying the homeless or immigration risks posed by the homeless and illegal immigrants who have to turn to violent crime to provide for themselves?
the oil industry downplayed and outright lied for decades about the risks and are guilty, just like the tobacco guys and cancer - it will be decided in the courts as it rightly should - congress has a history of acting slow and being willing to take bribes justb look at kushners 2 billion $ saudi payday
 Nonsense.  Global warming is a scam.
the rightwing-r(etards) commenting here certainly make a good case for why humanity deserves to self-destruct and get wiped out...
Look at all your down votes.  Who's the "r(tard)?
only r(etards) care about up/downvotes.. this comments section is awash with rightwing/russian bots doing up/downvoting aligned with their agenda.. do not for a second think that represents reality or normality...
  John Kerry flies around the world in a private jet but keep lecturing others.
Who else is rooting for a 99% extinction level event?
Another democratic woke move.
Maybe the should just stop selling oil and gas to California and see how they do without them.
The US is the largest oil producer in the world, while the oil industry here operates in largely hostile environment. When the largest producer, the US oil industry, has to operate in hostile environment, this ensures supply squeeze of the oil market globally.
If successful, as usual, just will make everything more expensive. Petroleum isn't going away anytime soon. Everything in the 'New Green Agenda' is encapsulated, and lubricated by petroleum based products. Plant based products just aren't there yet, and may never be able to rival petroleum based products. Not to mention the airline industry. A 737-800 will chug about 6000 gallons from NY to San Fran. Classic cake and eat it for Newsom, guaranteed he's not giving up his jet!
Clever. Newsome spent California into a $32 Billion deficit, now needs to extort that amount from big oil to balance budget and have the appearance of him just being a smidgen more competent than BoBo when he runs in 2024. At least BoBo has an excuse.
The time will come when people will sue California and Dem party for enormous harm inflicted on the people of the US.
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