On June 25, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the world’s four largest oil companies: BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. The lawsuit accuses the companies of “systematically and intentionally misleading District consumers about the role their products play in causing climate change.”
The D.C. lawsuit marks the first instance of an Attorney General naming Chevron, Shell, and BP for climate crimes.
The district joins other states and cities in suing ExxonMobil for climate crimes. Just one day prior, on June 24, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a consumer fraud lawsuit against Exxon, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute. Massachusetts and New York have sued ExxonMobil as well. The Minnesota and D.C. suits focus on corporate deception and consumer protection.
Kathleen Konopka, Deputy Attorney General for the Public Advocacy Division told The Progressive: “The District of Columbia sued Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron and Shell for systematically and intentionally misleading District consumers about the role their fossil fuel products play in causing climate change. The companies executed a decades-long public relations campaign to undermine climate science, misrepresent fossil fuel products as “clean,” and mislead consumers about the scale of their investments to reduce emissions. AG Racine’s lawsuit is focused on holding these companies accountable for deceiving District consumers.”
The D.C. lawsuit marks the first instance of an Attorney General naming Chevron, Shell, and BP for climate crimes. The four oil companies have all made headlines before. In 2019, a study conducted by The Guardian of the world’s worst carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters globally found that “Chevron topped the list of the eight investor-owned corporations, followed closely by Exxon, BP, and Shell.”
In September 2015, InsideClimate News began what would become a nine-part series, Exxon: The Road Not Taken, documenting that Exxon had known since the 1970s about the causes and impacts of climate change. Exxon’s own research confirmed the role of fossil fuels in global warming. Top executives at the company were warned of the effects of CO2 emissions and of climate change. They then initiated efforts to block solutions.
In October 2015, the Columbia University’s Energy and Environment Reporting Project and the Los Angeles Times also examined the contrast between Exxon’s internal reports and external messaging about climate change between the 1980s and the early 2000s.
In response, as reported by The New York Times, New York state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman launched an investigation in November 2015 to determine if ExxonMobil had lied to the public about climate change and to its investors about the dangers of fossil fuels. 2016 Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders demanded an investigation. More than 350,000 people signed a petition delivered in November 2015 to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling on the Department of Justice to examine whether ExxonMobil intentionally misled the public, “putting profits over the planet.”
The 101-page lawsuit filed by Racine’s office June 25 argues that “the defendants have known for decades that their fossil fuel products would disrupt the global climate with potentially ‘catastrophic’ consequences for humankind.”
The companies repeated a playbook used by the tobacco industry (which had denied tobacco’s harm), in order to create uncertainty about the actuality of climate change.
Furthermore, their “internal actions demonstrated awareness and acceptance of the known effects of climate change.” But “contrary to their clear knowledge of climate change . . . the defendants promoted disinformation and doubt among D.C. consumers and nationwide.”
The companies repeated a playbook used by the tobacco industry (which had denied tobacco’s harm), in order to create uncertainty about the actuality of climate change. In his remarks, Attorney General Racine said the companies “hired some of the same scientists who falsely disputed the connection between tobacco use and cancer to do the same for fossil fuels and climate change” and “hired a well-known fake grassroots group—the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition—used in the tobacco industry’s disinformation campaign to manufacture public opposition to climate researchers and activists.”
The lawsuit specifically mentions “Exxon’s misleading advertising campaign of climate denial” and “Shell’s misleading ‘Profits and Principles’ advertising campaign.”
The suit also calls out the Global Climate Coalition, an international lobbying group that existed from 1989 to 2002. It opposed policies intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and instead advocated a public campaign of climate denial. The lawsuit charges that the “defendants formed the Global Climate Coalition to deceive customers by distorting climate science.” One member of the Global Climate Coalition was the American Petroleum Institute.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the largest trade organization representing the oil industry, consisting of more than 600 companies. The suit states the “defendants used API to deceive consumers as to the existence of climate change and whether fossil fuels had a role in causing it.”
While the oil companies intentionally sought to destabilize public knowledge and opinion about climate change, they raked in billions in profits. The Minnesota suit notes that Exxon earned $775 billion during this time. Residents, by contrast, incurred the costs associated with climate change, including those to both health and the environment.
The D.C. lawsuit argues that all four companies continue to mislead consumers about the impact of fossil fuel products on climate change through “deceptive greenwashing campaigns.” It charges the companies with making misleading statements about “green” or “greener” fossil fuel products. For example, it states, “none of these companies invests more than 2.3 percent of capital expenditures in renewables.”
In response to the D.C. lawsuit, Janet Redman, Climate Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA, said “Fossil fuel corporations have known since the 1960s that the ongoing use of their products would lead to catastrophic climate change. But instead of warning the public and changing course, they’ve stood in the way of climate action at every turn. Their denial and delay has deadly consequences for the Black, brown, and Indigenous communities who bear the brunt of climate-fueled extreme weather and toxic pollution.”
The fossil fuel industry disproportionately impacts local communities of color. For example, the 2,900-acre Chevron refinery is located in Richmond, California, a working class community of predominantly African-American and Latinx residents. The city of Richmond has previously sued Chevron for its “willful and conscious disregard of public safety.”
Greenpeace’s Redman said: “As we confront the interwoven crises of climate change, systemic racism, and COVID-19, it would be unforgivable to return to a ‘normal’ in which fossil fuel CEOs continue to escape accountability for their deception.”
On August 6, 2012, an explosion and fire at the plant sent smoke billowing into the air and sent 15,000 area residents to the hospital with respiratory problems. Nineteen workers were lucky to escape the explosion alive. The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) slapped the multibillion dollar corporation with a nearly $1 million fine for eleven violations. It is the maximum allowable fine and the largest in California state history.
Andrés Soto of Communities for a Better Environment told The Progressive: “Richmond has suffered from its toxic relationship with Chevron for more than a century. It is past time to initiate a Just Transition beginning with the process of decommissioning California refineries, including Chevron Richmond. We must end the chronic pollution, and the political and economic corruption we have suffered for generations.”
In response to the lawsuit, May Boeve of 350.org told The Progressive: “Climate lawsuits are a key way for us to hold fossil fuel criminals like Exxon and Chevron accountable for their decades of destruction, deception, and lies. As we reimagine and rebuild an economy rooted in racial justice that puts our health and safety first, we demand polluters pay for a just recovery and transition.”
Greenpeace’s Redman said: “As we confront the interwoven crises of climate change, systemic racism, and COVID-19, it would be unforgivable to return to a ‘normal’ in which fossil fuel CEOs continue to escape accountability for their deception. We thank Attorney General Racine for demanding justice, and hope to see more states and local governments join him.”