The city of Hoboken, New Jersey filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, Conoco Philips and the American Petroleum Institute. The lawsuit is for the increasing costs of climate disasters to property, public health and the people of Hoboken and aims to make Big Polluters pay for withholding information from people about the damages they knew their products would cause.
There is a growing movement demanding Big Polluters pay for their abuses and that the results from those lawsuits are distributed not only to impacted communities in the U.S., but also distributed to people around the globe impacted by the climate crisis.
Please see below for a statement from Jesse Bragg, Corporate Accountability’s media director.
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Laura and amid ongoing wildfires, it is ever the more clear that Big Polluters must pay for knowingly fueling the climate crisis. This lawsuit is one step closer to justice.
Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and other Big Polluters’ business models and climate denial machines have put the planet on the brink. For over sixty years, the fossil fuel industry has operated without regard for the impact its business has on the environment and people, especially Black, Brown and Indigenous people, women and youth around the globe. 20 years ago, Big Tobacco paid for a similar and deadly campaign of deceit. The fossil fuel industry’s reckoning has come. The world can’t afford to pay — and keep paying — for Big Polluters’ impunity.
This lawsuit, which comes right on the heels of Minnesota and D.C.’s, is a clear indication that people and decision-makers are no longer willing to tolerate the deception and abuses of Big Polluters. Now, Governor Murphy and Attorney General Grewa must follow in Hoboken’s footsteps, and stand up to Big Polluters.”
