News & Analysis
July 24, 2023
CCI President Richard Wiles appeared on CNN International’s global affairs program, “Amanpour,” on Monday to discuss the growing legal movement to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their decades-long climate lies.
Renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour interviewed Wiles alongside attorney Missy Sims, who is representing a group of Puerto Rico communities in the first-ever lawsuit to charge ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and other oil and gas companies with violating racketeering laws.
Last week, The New York Times featured comments from Wiles in a front-page story about the Puerto Rico lawsuit, which seeks to make Big Oil pay for the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. “That’s why the companies are so afraid of these cases,” Wiles told The Times’ David Gelles. “If they have to pay for the damages they caused, the costs get out of control really fast.”
Watch clips from the CNN International segment below:
"The [fossil fuel] industry knew that their products would cause climate change. And then they lied about it."
— Center for Climate Integrity (@climatecosts) July 24, 2023
Our Richard Wiles told @amanpour why a growing number of states and communities are suing Big Oil to #MakePollutersPay. pic.twitter.com/7T14gdhZpL
Oil companies “shifted the guilt to people,” says Richard Wiles, head of @climatecosts. “Climate change is not a tragedy – it’s a crime that’s been forced upon [people] by the oil companies, who knew their products were going to do this and went ahead and lied about it anyway.” pic.twitter.com/ERR3w7yqCi
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) July 24, 2023
