SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey’s attorney general is suing a group of oil companies, alleging they have been lying for decades about the impact of fossil fuels on the environment.
“Specifically, we allege that Exxon, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute have known that since the 1950s that their fossil fuel products are a main driver of global climate change,” Attorney General Matt Platkin said, “and they’ve worked very hard to keep our residents in the dark.”
Platkin said those companies have been making changes to better prepare for the impact of climate change, like raising the height of drilling rigs on the ocean and exploring drilling in frozen areas that might someday melt due to global warming.
But, he said, they’re pretending like there was nothing going on for years.
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“We’ll ask the court to order the defendants to stop their lying and to pay for the cost of their conduct to New Jersey,” he said.
Platkin added that the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy 10 years ago, and all of the storms since, are proof that climate has changed for the worse and fossil fuels are to blame.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette says the Garden State is ground zero for some of the worst impacts of climate change.
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“Our communities and environment are continually recovering from extreme heat, furious storms, and devastating floods. These conditions will sadly only worsen in the decades ahead, leaving us scrambling to prepare for a parade of harmful climate changes,” LaTourette said.
“All this while we rush to wean ourselves off the very products these companies have long known would fuel our pain but deceived New Jerseyans about, because keeping us addicted was better for their bottom line.”
The state’s complaint alleges the defendant fossil fuel companies violated the Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting, suppressing, and omitting material facts about the adverse impacts of their products through a national climate-denialist campaign starting in the 1980s and continuing through today.
We reached out to some of the defendants named in the lawsuit to get reaction. Shell provided the following statement:
The Shell Group’s position on climate change has been a matter of public record for decades. We agree that action is needed now on climate change, we fully support the need for society to transition to a lower-carbon future and we’re committed to playing our part by addressing our own emissions and helping customers to reduce theirs. As the energy system evolves, so will our business, to provide the mix of products that our customers need and extend the economic and social benefits of energy access to everyone.
Addressing a challenge as big as climate change requires a truly collaborative, society-wide approach. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government, supported by action from all business sectors, including ours, and from civil society, is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress.
And Chevron’s attorneys said this lawsuit is a distraction, not an attempt to find a real solution:
“Like the others in the series brought by the same private plaintiffs lawyers, it is a special-interest lawsuit asking the Superior Court of New Jersey to punish a select group of energy companies for a problem that is the result of worldwide conduct stretching back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. These suits serve only to divert attention and resources away from the collaborative, international efforts that are critical to developing a meaningful solution to climate change. Chevron believes that the claims asserted are legally and factually meritless, and will demonstrate that in court. In the meantime, Chevron will continue working with other stakeholders in the public and private sectors to craft real solutions to global climate change.”
Several other states including Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont have filed similar lawsuits against oil companies.
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