Press Releases
November 7, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Biden’s election is an unparalleled opportunity to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for damages caused by its products and its work to deceive the public about climate change, according to the Center for Climate Integrity.
In his climate plan released earlier this year, Biden pledged to order the Department of Justice to “strategically support ongoing plaintiff-driven climate litigation against polluters,” a reference to lawsuits filed against the fossil fuel industry by more than 20 U.S. states and localities.
During a Democratic primary debate in February, Biden said of fossil fuel companies and executives, “if you demonstrate that they, in fact, have done things already that are bad and they’ve been lying, they should be able to be sued, they should be able to be held personally accountable…This is an industry we should be able to sue. We should go after, just like we did the drug companies, just like we did with the tobacco companies.”
Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:
“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Biden vowed to stand on the side of communities seeking justice and compensation for the billion-dollar climate disasters caused by the fossil fuel industry and their decades of climate deception.
“Once he enters office, President-elect Biden must follow-through on that pledge and support legal actions, investigations, and other efforts to hold oil and gas companies, and their executives, accountable for causing and lying about the climate crisis.
“The movement for climate accountability is poised to have an ally in the White House for the first time since climate damages lawsuits were first filed against major oil and gas companies in 2017. President-elect Biden has pledged to make climate action a top priority in his administration, and we will work with communities and partners across the country to ensure that accountability for polluters is a key part of that agenda.”