July 2018
With 400 miles of vulnerable shoreline, Rhode Island became the first state to file suit against a fleet of fossil fuel companies for current and impending consequences of climate change, ranging from severe storms and drought to considerable sea level rise and flooding along its coast. State Attorney General Peter Kilmartin called 21 oil and gas companies, including Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, to account for nearly half a century of unrestricted extraction and use of fossil fuel products that significantly impacted the state’s fishing and marine economies, infrastructures, ecosystems and public health.
The suit charges the companies with manufacturing doubt around climate change and failing to warn the public of known hazards that cost taxpayers vital resources and time. According to the Attorney General, “We have a fiduciary obligation to the citizens and taxpayers to hold big oil accountable for the damages they caused and, more importantly, we have a moral obligation to protect our natural resources, wildlife, our quality of life, and leave this Rhode Island a better place for future generations and put the planet before profits.”
- News: Providence Journal • Reuters • ThinkProgress • The Hill • AP • InsideClimate News • Pacific Standard • Climate Liability News • Carbon Brief
- Analysis: First Circuit Rules Against Oil Industry: Rhode Island Climate Lawsuit Belongs in State Court (2020) • Rhode Island Climate Case Can Proceed in State Court, First Circuit Rules in Another Defeat for Big Oil (2022)
- Read the Complaint: State of Rhode Island v. Chevron Corp. et al.