You’ve probably seen the not-so-shocking news that Big Oil is asking Congress to give them blanket immunity from climate liability while Trump is in power – taking a page out of the gun manufacturers playbook. Dirty energy CEOs met with Trump behind closed doors asking for total protection from any efforts by cities and states to hold them accountable for their climate crimes.
Climate fueled disasters like floods, fires, hurricanes, and heat waves are on the rise, uprooting lives and livelihoods, and costing states and taxpayers billions of dollars. That’s why a growing number of cities and states are filing lawsuits or passing new legislation that would make the fossil fuel industry pay their fair share for climate damages. The fossil fuel industry is turning to its friends in Congress, demanding a “liability waiver” which is basically a “get out of jail free” card.
States and municipalities across the U.S. have filed lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about the climate crisis and their outsized role in causing it. And some states are beginning to pass legislation modeled after the federal Superfund program to hold these companies financially accountable for climate damages to the state. Vermont and New Yorkhave enacted these bills into law, and nearly a dozen other states have introduced similar legislation.
Major oil and gas companies don’t like this and will do everything in their power to protect their bottom lines. Oil companies even encouraged the Department of Justice to file briefs on their behalf, or to directly sue states who have enacted Superfund laws. We can’t give this toxic industry any more free passes when our communities are burning, flooding, and being destroyed by climate change.
The fossil fuel industry has known for decades that their products drive climate change. But they lied to the public, lobbied against climate solutions, and continued on with business as usual. Big Oil continues to rake in record profits, doubling down on fossil fuel exploration and production while we all pay the price of their pollution.
It’s time to make these polluters pay their fair share.
In Solidarity,
Aki, Campaigns Director 350 Seattle
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