News & Analysis
August 18, 2023
In the wake of deadly Maui wildfires, a lawyer for Big Oil this week argued that Honolulu communities shouldn’t get their day in court to show evidence of decades of industry deception about the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis.
On Thursday, the Hawai’i Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Honolulu city and county’s lawsuit against oil companies for knowingly lying about the climate crisis should move forward to trial and discovery in state court. A Hawai’i state court already rejected Big Oil’s attempts to dismiss Honolulu’s lawsuit, prompting the industry’s current appeal to the Hawai’i Supreme Court. The lawsuit seeks to make Exxon, Chevron, and other oil majors pay for costs the communities face as a result of hotter temperatures, strain on the water supply, more frequent and intense wildfires, and other climate damages.
“Think of how Hawai’i would’ve been different if [oil companies] had stood up 50 years ago and said, ‘If you use our products unabated, your islands are going to be destroyed,’” Victor Sher, the lawyer representing Honolulu, said in his argument to the five judges on the Hawai’i Supreme Court. “They’ve deprived these public entities of the opportunity to make a choice and control their future.”
Just 100 miles away, Maui County, which also has an ongoing lawsuit against Big Oil, is recovering from the devastating impacts of a wildfire that engulfed the historic town of Lahaina and killed at least 110 people.
President Biden is expected to visit Maui next week to observe the damage from the fire, during which he has an opportunity to voice his support for holding the oil industry accountable for its longtime climate deception and damages.
“Compensation in this case will not solve climate change, but it will help this community survive by providing funds to adapt, repair, strengthen resilience, and move forward,” Sher said during the arguments.
Cover image: A person walking down Front Street past destroyed buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
