News & Analysis
August 13, 2020
From stronger hurricanes to chronic floods and rising seas, the billion-dollar damages caused by climate change in New Jersey are leading to a growing chorus of voices calling for the fossil fuel industry to pay its fair share.
Now, climate accountability proponents are making the case for New Jersey to file suit against the industry in news outlets across the state.
Senators Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat, and Kip Bateman, a Republican, penned an op-ed in NorthJersey.com urging the passage of Senate Resolution 57, a measure they’ve sponsored calling on Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal “to pursue legal action against fossil fuel companies for damages caused by climate change.”
In the face of COVID-19, which has wreaked havoc on municipal budgets, the financial demand of climate change and resilience will be harder than ever to take on. Just recently, the Murphy administration announced the need for significant budget cuts to address New Jersey’s estimated $10 billion budget shortfall.
The truth is, however, the billion-dollar bills from climate change should not fall on New Jersey taxpayers alone. The climate crisis is almost entirely the responsibility of major oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil, whose own research for decades showed that the products making them rich were at the same time “potentially catastrophic” to the climate. [...]
New Jersey taxpayers simply cannot — and should not — pay all the bills from climate change while the companies who created those damages get off not only scot free, but with billions of dollars in their coffers.
In ROI-NJ, Richard Lawton, executive director of the New Jersey Sustainable Business Council, wrote that responsible business leaders should support holding industries accountable when the violate the public trust:
Everyone suffers when a business is allowed to harm the public without consequences. … It’s only fair that the fossil fuel companies who created this crisis pay their fair share of the cumulative costs that have been imposed on New Jerseyans.
This is a simple and long-established concept. It’s why tobacco companies and opioid manufacturers have had to pay for the harms they knew their products would cause. If a business knowingly sells a product that causes harm, it should be liable for that harm. This principle applies to everyone, from small businesses to multibillion-dollar fossil fuel companies.
And just this week in the Asbury Park Press, Randall S. Abate, a law professor at Monmouth University, wrote that he believes the Garden State would be on solid legal footing to join the growing number of states, cities, and counties who have taken the oil and gas industry to court for violating consumer protection laws or to recover the costs of the climate damage they caused:
As a law professor who has followed and analyzed these cases, I believe New Jersey is well positioned to bring similar actions against fossil fuel companies in order to transfer the cost of climate change damages from our residents onto the polluters most responsible.
The oil and gas industry has vigorously fought these suits because they could pay dearly if they are held accountable in a court of law. In New Jersey, industry allies have falsely claimed that similar climate suits have failed. But that is simply not true. The vast majority of these cases are proceeding in state courts, despite industry efforts to have them dismissed.
You can learn more about the scientific, legal, and policy arguments for climate accountability in New Jersey by registering for an online discussion Abate is moderating on Wednesday, August 19, here.
Photo by accarrino on Flickr.
