Image courtesy of Atahan Güç on Unsplash
Five states: California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, pursued a lawsuit accusing five major oil companies of knowingly deceiving the public that fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Then, 19 Republican-led states sought to block their claims against Chevron, Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, and ConocoPhillips.
These states tried to block the lawsuit: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The case went to the US Supreme Court, and in early March, it ruled in favor of the five states. The five states added that the lawsuits did not seek to impose liability on oil companies based on their fossil fuel production but focused on the local harms resulting from unlawful, deceptive conduct by private defendants. That’s we the people, friends!
