News & Analysis
December 19, 2023
In a year that laid bare Big Oil’s dedication to continuously fueling the climate crisis and misleading the public about it, the need to hold oil majors accountable for their climate deception is clearer than ever. Fortunately, the movement for climate accountability made significant strides this year, inspiring more communities to demand that Big Oil companies face the evidence of their decades-long deception in court. From a growing number of cases to an unbroken string of legal wins for plaintiffs, climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies are heading into 2024 closer than ever to trial.
In no particular order, here are some of the most important climate accountability developments this year:
More communities sued Big Oil companies for their climate deception: California — the 5th largest economy in the world — is taking ExxonMobil and other oil giants to court for their decades of climate deception. Multnomah County, Oregon’s most populous county, also filed a lawsuit to make 15 oil companies pay for fueling the 2021 deadly heat dome — a climate disaster made worse by fossil-fueled climate change.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Big Oil’s failed arguments to avoid facing trials in state court: The U.S. Supreme Court twice denied fossil fuel industry requests to review lower court rulings in favor of communities suing for climate accountability, clearing a path for dozens of communities across the U.S. to advance their cases toward trial in state court.
Courts rejected industry attempts to evade accountability in state court: Judges across the nation unanimously ruled that cases in Minnesota, Connecticut, Charleston, and San Francisco and Oakland can move forward in the state courts where they were originally filed, adding to an unbroken string of victories for communities and defeats for Big Oil.
The first-ever state RICO suit was filed against Big Oil: Hoboken, New Jersey, made history by becoming the first community to accuse oil companies of violating state racketeering laws by conspiring to defraud the public about the harms they knew their products would cause.
The U.S. Department of Justice backed communities suing Big Oil: After years of silence, the DOJ reversed its Trump-era support of Big Oil and urged the Supreme Court to reject oil industry requests to review lower court rulings in favor of communities suing Big Oil.
Honolulu won a major ruling that puts the city and county on track to put Big Oil on trial: The Supreme Court of Hawai’i rejected fossil fuel industry arguments to dismiss the City and County of Honolulu’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Sunoco, and other oil companies, bringing polluters closer than ever to facing evidence of their deception in court.
Evidence of ExxonMobil’s years-long deception continued to be unearthed: Recently uncovered internal documents, published by the Wall Street Journal, show Exxon’s efforts to undermine climate science in order to protect company profits stretched well into the 2010s. In a 2015 document, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson called the Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius — which Exxon publicly supports — “something magical” and suggested an increase of 2.5 degrees Celsius would be “good enough.”
More evidence is piling up against Big Oil: New studies and research show that industry scientists predicted the climate crisis with eerie accuracy as early as the 1980s. A 1989 Shell document showed that industry scientists warned “civilisation could prove a fragile thing” without a reduction in fossil fuel use.
There were growing calls for DOJ action from Congress: In two separate letters, nearly two dozen House and Senate members urged the DOJ to either investigate or sue Exxon, Shell, and other oil companies for violating fraud, racketeering, and other federal laws. Senate Budget Chair Sheldon Whitehouse also vowed to continue an earlier congressional investigation into Big Oil’s climate deception.
Major political figures called out Big Oil’s deception: U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called out fossil fuel companies for ignoring their own scientists, spreading climate denial, and advancing a business model that “is inconsistent with human survival.” Former Vice President Al Gore called out Big Oil in a TED Talk for claiming to be dedicated to climate solutions while expanding oil and gas production and fighting the transition to clean energy. California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly supported his state’s climate accountability lawsuit, calling the climate crisis a “fossil fuel crisis.”
More evidence was unearthed about the #ExxonKnew hacking scheme: The hacker who pled guilty to participating in a massive hacking-for-hire scheme targeting climate advocates who campaigned against ExxonMobil was sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison — but the question of who hired him remains unanswered.
State officials are calling for new lawsuits against Big Oil: Elected officials in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, and more have called for their cities, counties, and states to join dozens of other communities in suing Big Oil for its climate deception and damages, showing the growing demand for climate accountability.
The movement to hold the oil industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis grew stronger than ever in 2023. As communities keep prevailing over Big Oil’s attempts to escape the courtroom, polling shows that a majority of voters across the political spectrum continue to support holding polluters accountable and making them pay their fair share of climate damages. As we enter 2024, climate accountability is reaching an unprecedented level of momentum.
