US state to sue oil companies over climate change impacts

Rhode Island has become the first US state to sue a group of oil companies over their role in causing dangerous climate change.

The state’s Attorney General, Peter F. Kilmartin, filed the complaint yesterday, which accuses 21 major oil & gas companies of knowingly contributing to climate change and the “catastrophic consequences” to the region.

The suit names Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and others in a bold attempt to receive compensation for the impacts from climate change. These include damages from increased extreme weather events, economic losses, and public health effects.

The motion not only cites these companies as being major contributors to global warming, but accuses them of “failing to adequately warn customers” and instead advancing pseudo-scientific theories to refute the settled science behind climate change.

Mr Kilmartin referenced the increase in sea levels, the floods of 2010 and Hurricane Sandy as evidence of unusually severe weather patterns experienced by the state.

"The defendants have contributed greatly to the increased costs associated with climate change, and as such, should be held legally responsible for those damages," he said.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States and is seen as particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Beaches, ports, dams, roads, bridges, and energy infrastructure are all estimated to need added protection from climate change.

The state’s politicians applauded the move and rallied round in support of the lawsuit. Governor Gina Raimondo said that “working families shouldn't have to pay for the willful ignorance of big oil, big gas and big coal companies.”

"As we face the threat of climate change, we need to build more resilient infrastructure and we need to hold the people and companies most responsible for climate change accountable,” she added.

The state’s junior senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, commended the Attorney General for “his leadership in holding some of the world's most powerful corporations responsible for the damage they're inflicting on our coastal economy, infrastructure, and way of life."

A number of US cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have taken similar action against petroleum companies over the past year. However, a judge in California recently threw out one of the lawsuits after deciding his courtroom was the wrong forum for the discussion.

 

Photo Credit: Morrow Long/CC