Two PNW tribal nations sue oil companies over costs of climate change - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Two PNW tribal nations sue oil companies over costs of climate change | Northwest | union-bulletin.com

Major oil companies for decades deliberately sought to downplay and discredit scientific warnings about the central role of fossil fuels in causing climate change, alleges two lawsuits filed this week by the Makah and Shoalwater Bay tribes.

The lawsuits filed in King County Superior Court name ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 as defendants, and seek compensation for the millions of dollars already spent, and likely to be spent in the future, for the tribes to respond to climate-induced disasters such as extreme heat, drought, wildfire, shoreline erosion, sea-level rise and flooding.

The lawsuits allege the companies have known fossil fuels would cause catastrophic climate change since at least 1959, but continued marketing massive quantities of oil and gas. They allege the oil companies tried to mislead the public by funding op-eds and advertisements in Seattle and national newspapers that claimed the science of climate change was uncertain or lacking evidence.

The six companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuits Thursday morning.

The complaints outline the companies' research and misleading marketing around their products’ role in causing climate change and the sea level rise, extreme weather, public health harms and other climate effects on the tribes and their lands.

With both the Makah and Shoalwater Bay reservations on the Pacific Ocean, they are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise, the lawsuits state. Both tribes have already incurred the costs of moving their citizens to higher ground, and ocean acidification "at an alarming rate" from burning fossil fuels has endangered the tribes' coastal ecosystems and economy, according to the lawsuits.

“We are seeing the effects of the climate crisis on our people, our land, and our resources. The costs and consequences to us are overwhelming,” said Makah Tribal Council Chair Timothy J. Greene, Sr. in a statement. “We intend to hold these companies accountable for hiding the truth about climate change and the effects of burning fossil fuels. And we aim to force them to help pay for the high costs of surviving the catastrophe caused by the climate crisis.”

The lawsuits also cite a report by the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington that suggests with global warming of at least 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, Washington is projected to experience a 67% increase in the number of days per year above 90 degrees, relative to 1976 to 2005, leading to an increased risk of heat-related illness and death, warmer streams and more frequent algal blooms.

The report also found warming would fuel a decrease of 38% percent in snowpack, relative to 1970 to 1999, leading to reduced water storage, irrigation shortages, and winter and summer recreation losses, as well as increases in winter streamflow, decreases in summer streamflow, leading to reduced summer hydropower, conflicts over water resources and negative effects on salmon.

“These oil companies knew their products were dangerous, yet they did nothing to mitigate those dangers or warn any of us about them, for decades,” said Shoalwater Bay Chair Charlene Nelson in a written statement. “Now we are facing hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to relocate our community to higher ground and protect our people, our property, and our heritage. These companies need to be held accountable for that.”

The tribes bring their claims under of Washington’s Products Liability Act for failure to warn, misrepresentation and intentional concealment. The complaints request jury trials, and ask the court to order the companies to create a fund to be managed by the tribes to remediate and adapt reservation lands, natural resources and infrastructure to climate change.

The lawsuits follow the path of more than 20 local and state governments that have sued fossil-fuel companies over their role in climate change since 2017, according to E&E News.

This story will be updated.