News & Analysis
June 25, 2020
The tidal wave of lawsuits filed by cities, counties and states to hold Big Oil accountable does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. Today, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine launched a consumer protection lawsuit against four of the world’s biggest oil companies — Exxon, BP, Chevron, and Shell — for knowingly concealing the role that burning fossil fuels plays in causing climate change.
The D.C. lawsuit comes one day after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a similar consumer fraud lawsuit against Exxon, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute. Yet another consumer protection suit filed against Exxon by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey last year is now proceeding in state court.
This is also the second consumer protection action filed in D.C. against Exxon in recent months. In May, the non-profit group Beyond Pesticides filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Exxon that asked the D.C. Superior Court to order the oil giant to stop its “false and deceptive marketing” about its role in climate change.
The consumer protection lawsuits filed by Massachusetts, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia do not aim to solve climate change or even recover climate damages — instead, they are focused completely on bringing these companies to justice for their deception.
“Two new lawsuits filed against Big Oil in two days shows the strength and momentum of legal efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for lying about climate change,” said our executive director, Richard Wiles. “It has been a very bad week for corporate polluters and climate deniers, and a very good week in the fight to hold Big Oil accountable for its lies and deception.”
