News & Analysis
July 5, 2024
Connecticut is closer than ever to making ExxonMobil face evidence of its climate lies in court after a judge this week rejected the fossil fuel giant’s argument to dismiss the state’s climate deception lawsuit.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong sued Exxon in 2020 to hold the company accountable for “an ongoing, systematic campaign of lies and deception to hide from the public what ExxonMobil has known for decades—that burning fossil fuels undeniably contributes to climate change.”
The lawsuit seeks to make Exxon stop lying about its products, pay $5,000 for every time the company violated Connecticut’s consumer protection laws, fund an education campaign to address the oil industry’s decades of disinformation about the climate crisis, and more.
“Our case is simple and strong — ExxonMobil amassed billions of dollars in profits off a decades-long campaign of lies, and they must be held accountable,” Tong said last year. “We are ready to aggressively prosecute this case in Connecticut, to uncover and expose ExxonMobil’s lies, and to hold the company accountable for the massive harm their deception caused to our environment, public health, and our economy.”
Following this week’s ruling, Connecticut’s case joins a growing number of climate accountability lawsuits against Exxon — including in Massachusetts, Hawai`i, Colorado, and Maryland — that are moving toward discovery and trial.
Image credit: Dannel Malloy, Connecticut National Guard/Flickr
