For decades, the oil industry lined their pockets with billions of dollars in profit while lying about the risks of climate change and knowingly downplaying the harms caused by fossil fuels.
In 2017, our San Francisco City Attorney’s Office teamed up with the Oakland City Attorney’s Office to file groundbreaking lawsuits against the five largest investor-owned producers of fossil fuels in the world – BP, Chevron, Conoco, Exxon Mobil and Shell. For over five years, we have successfully fought a barrage of procedural efforts by Big Oil in order to hold the defendants accountable.
This week, we’re excited that Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta have joined the fight, with the State of California filing a separate lawsuit against the same companies on similar grounds.
Big Oil needs to know that they will be held responsible for the impacts of their products. The effects of climate change are all around us, from wildfires and hurricanes to landslides and shoreline erosion, all of which are harming vulnerable communities.
Our lawsuits ask the courts to hold Big Oil accountable for the costs of protecting our sea walls and other infrastructure from the ongoing and future consequences of climate change and sea level rise caused by the fossil fuel industry. We’re glad Governor Newsom and AG Bonta are on our side of the fight, and you can read more about the new lawsuit here.