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The state of California is suing some of the world's largest oil companies for their role in exacerbating damages and deaths caused by climate change, and for deceiving the public by actively downplaying the climate risk of burning fossil fuels.
The lawsuit targets five companies—ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron—and has immediately become one of the most significant legal challenges facing the fossil fuel industry since it was filed in civil court last Friday. California is a major producer of oil and gas, and the state attorney general’s office has a track record of bringing forth landmark cases that are often emulated by other states. The lawsuit claims that starting in the 1950s, oil companies and their allies intentionally downplayed the risks posed by fossil fuels with the knowledge that their products were likely to lead to significant global warming. It further alleges that these companies have continued to mislead the public about their commitment to reduce emissions while boasting about investments in alternative fuels—all while reaping record profits.
California is on the front lines of climate-change-fueled extreme weather and disasters, including catastrophic wildfires, floods, sea-level rise, scorching heat, and even tropical storms, like Hilary. The lawsuit seeks to create a fund that would be used to pay for mitigation and recovery efforts from extreme weather events across the state, claiming that California has already spent tens of billions of dollars paying for climate disasters, and expects costs to rise significantly in the years ahead.
The complaint reads, “Oil and gas company executives have known for decades that reliance on fossil fuels would cause these catastrophic results, but they suppressed that information from the public and policymakers by actively pushing out disinformation on the topic,” and that, “their deception caused a delayed societal response to global warming. And their misconduct has resulted in tremendous costs to people, property, and natural resources, which continue to unfold each day.”
Colorado's Mount Evans officially renamed Mount Blue Sky
Colorado's Mount Evans will now be known as Mount Blue Sky after the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted 15-1 on Friday to change the name of the peak. The decision is meant to settle the controversy of bestowing one of the most recognizable 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado's front range with the name of territorial governor John Evans following his lack of condemnation for the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 in which U.S. troops ambushed and killed more than 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people. Colorado Governor Jared Polis established the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board in July 2020 after the murder of George Floyd fueled widespread racial justice protests across the country. The board was responsible for providing name recommendations to the federal geographic names panel, which included a suggestion to rename Mount Evans.
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I’m glad to see that for the first time in more than 60 years, responsible new federal rules have been proposed for the oil and gas industry that can help protect our health, environment, and our tax dollars.”
