News & Analysis
May 9, 2024
Michigan is poised to become the ninth state in the U.S. to take fossil fuel companies to court for their climate deception, after the state’s attorney general today put out a call for law firms to submit proposals “to pursue litigation related to the climate change impacts caused by the fossil fuel industry on behalf of the State of Michigan.”
Attorney General Dana Nessel said in the announcement that climate change is threatening the state’s economy, agribusiness, and way of life. "Big oil caused these problems and they ought to pay the expenses related to these damages," she told The Detroit News.
In a statement of work posted online, Nessel’s office laid out the case for holding Big Oil accountable: “The fossil fuel industry was aware of the negative impacts of extraction and use of fossil fuels, but continued to knowingly engage in business practices and conduct that harmed the public’s health, safety, and welfare and the environment. The fossil fuel industry also hid information and deceived the public and consumers, both in and outside of Michigan, about the role of their products in causing the global climate crisis.”
Nessel would become the 10th attorney general in the country to sue Big Oil companies over their climate lies once the state’s lawsuit is filed, adding Michigan to a growing list of communities nationwide turning to the courts to hold companies like Exxon, Chevron, and Shell accountable for decades of climate deception.
"Big Oil knew decades ago that their products would cause catastrophic climate change, but instead of doing the right thing they lied about it,” said CCI President Richard Wiles. “The people of Michigan deserve their day in court to make these companies pay for the massive harm they knowingly caused."
