The City of Imperial Beach is among the three counties suing 37 fossil fuel companies. Photo: California Beaches
California is a bastion of hope for left-leaning, environmentally-conscious people. People who feel that the environment is actually pretty important and who, given the fact that there are more than a few alternative energy sources available, feel that the United States should be looking towards the future instead of looking back at a past soaked in fossil fuels. Those people are generally known as “libtards.” Well, three communities chock-full of people who care about the environment and the future of the planet (libtards are SO unreasonable) are suing nearly forty fossil fuel companies, including Exxon, Shell, and Chevron.
They’re suing because they feel that, since those companies know–and have known– about the damage they’re doing, they should be liable for the billions of dollars worth of damage to coastal communities that will occur as a direct result of the oil and gas industry putting cash over the environment.
San Mateo County, Marin County, and the city of Imperial Beach allege that the oil and gas companies in the suit have known about the dangers of climate change and their direct role in it for almost fifty years, and that they actively tried to cover it up. Which is true, at least in Exxon’s case.
“Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue, according to a recent investigation from InsideClimate News,” wrote Shannon Hall for Scientific American. “This knowledge did not prevent the company (now ExxonMobil and the world’s largest oil and gas company) from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformation—an approach many have likened to the lies spread by the tobacco industry regarding the health risks of smoking. Both industries were conscious that their products wouldn’t stay profitable once the world understood the risks, so much so that they used the same consultants to develop strategies on how to communicate with the public.”
The three counties allege that over the last fifty years, greenhouse gas emissions from the major carbon emitting companies have assured a global sea level rise of nearly 20 feet–a number that came from a study published in the journal Science back in 2015. The study shows that even if the planet hits the greenhouse gas emission goals set forth in the G-20 (G-19, I suppose), we’re already past a tipping point of sorts.
“This is an unprecedented moment for climate change litigation,” said Sophie Marjanac, from the environmental legal group Client Earth, in a statement. “Multiple cases are being brought against Carbon Majors and governments worldwide. Climate change has real impacts that put people, communities and their homes at risk. Lawyers are finding new and fresh ways to address these harms that have the potential to force Carbon Majors to pay for the damage their products have contributed to.”
