Minnesota is suing three major architects of climate denial — ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute — to hold them accountable for a “campaign of deception” to mislead consumers about the science of climate change and failing to disclose their knowledge that fossil fuel products caused global warming.
The complaint charges the companies with violating Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false statements in advertising. It seeks an end to those illegal practices, financial restitution for the harms Minnesotans have suffered, and asks a state court to require the companies to fund a corrective public education campaign on the issue of climate change.
“It’s only fair that, as our complaint states, ‘the parties who have profited from avoiding the consequences and costs of dealing with global warming and its physical, environmental, social, and economic consequences, bear the costs of those impacts, rather than Minnesota taxpayers, residents, or broader segments of the public.”
Keith Ellison
Minnesota Attorney General
State of Minnesota
American Petroleum Institute (API), Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Flint Hills Resources
Climate
Products Liability: Failure to Warn, Consumer Protection, Fraud, Misrepresentation
