Joins 21 Other Cities, Counties, and States Seeking to Hold Fossil Fuel Companies Accountable for Lying about Climate Change
DOVER, DE - Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings today announced the filing of a state lawsuit seeking to hold major fossil fuel companies accountable for defrauding the public about the climate change harms they knew their products would cause. The defendants in the case include BP, Chevron, Exxon, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas trade association.
Delaware now joins a growing list of cities, counties, and states taking the fossil fuel industry to court to recover billions of dollars in damages caused by the oil and gas industry’s fraud and deception about climate change.
It is the 22nd municipality or state to file a lawsuit against Big Oil since 2017, the 6th to do so this year, the 4th state after Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, and the 3rd in the last 8 days. The cities of Hoboken, New Jersey, and Charleston, South Carolina, filed similar lawsuits last week and yesterday, respectively.
Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:
“Delaware joins a growing wave of communities that rightly seek to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for lying about the climate change disasters they knew their products would cause.
“The climate crisis Big Oil caused is engulfing the nation, and it is costing communities billions of dollars. With more than 20 climate lawsuits filed against them, and three in just the last eight days, it is clear that Big Oil is facing its ‘Big Tobacco moment,’ and accountability is coming for them.
“When the fossil fuel industry innocently claims they did nothing wrong, keep in mind why they are being sued: because they lie.”