Placeholder canvas
My Green Pod Logo

Big Oil sued for ‘climate deception’

More than a quarter of all Americans live in areas taking fossil fuel companies to court for climate damages or fraud
Katie Hill - Editor-in-Chief, My Green Pod
Black oil background

The City of Chicago has sued ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 and the American Petroleum Institute to make them pay for lying to the public for decades about their fossil fuel products’ central role in the climate crisis.

The third largest city in the United States now joins dozens of states and municipalities across the country — collectively representing more than 25% of all Americans — that are taking fossil fuel companies to court to hold them accountable for decades of climate deception. 

‘Big Oil has lied to the American people for decades about the catastrophic climate risks of their products, and now Chicago and communities across the country are rightfully insisting they pay for the damage they’ve caused. 

‘With Chicago, the nation’s third largest city, joining the fray, there is no doubt that we are witnessing a historic wave of lawsuits that could finally hold Big Oil accountable for the climate crisis they knowingly caused.’

RICHARD WILES
President of the Center for Climate Integrity

Lawsuits against Big Oil

Since 2017, the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia – as well as dozens of municipal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina and Puerto Rico – have filed lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change. 

To date, eight federal appeals courts and dozens of federal district courts have unanimously ruled against the fossil fuel industry’s arguments to prevent these lawsuits from moving forward in state courts.

In 2023, the U.S. Justice Department added its support for the communities.

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Big Oil petitions to consider the industry’s appeals of those lower court rulings three separate times, most recently in January.

Here's more related content

Join The Conversation

Leave a Reply

Here's More Ethical Business, Energy & Climate News & Features

  • All
  • Amazon
  • Antarctic
  • COP28
  • EVs
  • P.E.A. Awards
  • Paris Agreement
  • SDGs
  • USA
  • activism
  • activists
  • banking
  • biodiversity
  • business
  • campaign
  • celebrity
  • charity
  • circular economy
  • cities
  • climate
  • climate action
  • climate change
  • climate crisis
  • climate emergency
  • climate justice
  • community
  • consumption
  • deforestation
  • design
  • economy
  • ecosystem
  • electric cars
  • energy
  • energy bills
  • equality
  • ethical investments
  • extreme weather
  • floods
  • forests
  • fossil fuels
  • government
  • home
  • human rights
  • indigenous
  • investments
  • kids
  • law
  • leadership
  • legal
  • lifestyle
  • money
  • nature
  • net zero
  • oceans
  • oil
  • plastic pollution
  • plastics
  • policy
  • politics
  • pollution
  • population
  • recycled
  • recycling
  • renewable energy
  • renewables
  • resources
  • society
  • urban
  • wind
  • wind power
  • women