California sues major oil companies, claiming they deceived on climate change for decades - Sacramento Bee

California sues major oil companies over climate change | The Sacramento Bee

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California sues major oil companies, claiming they deceived on climate change for decades

California sued some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies on Friday, alleging that they misled consumers for decades about their products’ role in contributing to climate change.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court by Attorney General Rob Bonta, accuses five major oil companies of mounting a “disinformation campaign” beginning in the 1950s to conceal the harm of fossil fuels to delay transition to a low-carbon future.

The targets of the suit are BP, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell. The lawsuit also names the oil industry trade group, the American Petroleum Institute.

“For more than 50 years, Big Oil has been lying to us — covering up the fact that they’ve long known how dangerous the fossil fuels they produce are for our planet,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Wildfires wiping out entire communities, toxic smoke clogging our air, deadly heat waves, record-breaking droughts parching our wells. California taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill.”

A handful of states and dozens of municipalities across the country have filed similar actions against the energy industry in recent years, but California’s is likely the most significant to date.

With nearly 40 million people, it is both the nation’s most populous state and one of the top oil and gas producers. Californians also regularly experience extreme weather events made more severe by climate change — ranging from wildfires to floods to heat waves.

California lawsuit accuses oil companies of deception

The 135-page complaint, first reported by The New York Times, alleges that oil executives understood decades ago that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution that would cause “catastrophic” consequences.

Instead of warning the public, the industry discredited the scientific consensus on climate change, the lawsuit alleges, and created doubt in the minds of consumers in order to delay the transition to clean energy.

Major studies, including by Harvard researchers published this year, found that oil companies such as ExxonMobil privately predicted global warming only to spend decades publicly tarnishing similar science in order to protect its core business model.

“Their deception caused a delayed societal response to global warming,” the complaint reads. “And their misconduct has resulted in tremendous costs to people, property, and natural resources, which continue to unfold each day.”

The lawsuit details the growing damages inflicted on Californians by climate change-induced heat waves, drought, wildfires, extreme storms, flooding, crop damage, coastal erosion and biodiversity loss.

Oil companies named in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kevin Slagle, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, slammed the assertions made in the lawsuit as merely symbolic.

“The effective climate policy Californians deserve will not happen through meritless lawsuits and political stunts,” Slagle said in a statement. “Demonizing our industry is not climate leadership, it’s a tired play.”

The lawsuit marks the latest step by Newsom to reinforce both his and the state’s reputation as leaders in confronting climate change.

The suit comes nearly a year after the governor announced plans to levy a windfall profits tax on oil companies for allegedly “price gouging Californians” at the gas pump. Newsom’s proposed tax never came to fruition. Instead, California lawmakers passed new data reporting requirements meant to increase transparency into oil company finances.

Under Newsom’s administration, California adopted a ban on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and a mandate to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2045.

California lawmakers on Thursday sent two landmark climate bills to the governor’s desk that would shed light on the carbon footprint of the state’s largest corporations and provide insight into how those companies plan to address their climate-related risks.

Despite these progressive steps, California faces serious hurdles to achieving its near- term goal of reducing emissions across the economy to 48% below 1990 levels by 2030, acknowledged California Air Resources board staff last month.

The state’s overarching climate plan relies heavily on largely unproven carbon capture technologies that are unlikely to be widely available soon. Without them, experts warn that energy prices could rise dangerously high.

This story was originally published September 16, 2023, 5:35 AM.