John,
Last Friday, youth activists with Fridays for Future NYC who organized the Climate Strike in New York City gathered at the steps of the New York Supreme Court.Why? New York State is suing ExxonMobil for fraud — alleging Exxon hid the truth about the financial impact of the climate crisis from shareholders.
These brave young people lifted up a powerful demand from the Climate Strike in the US and the broader movement for climate justice: hold corporate polluters accountable for the damage they’ve done to our communities and climate.
Up till now, the people least responsible have paid the price for Big Oil’s crimes. Now, it’s time to make fossil fuel companies pay for the harm they’ve done. Sign here to tell Congress and State Attorney Generals to hold Big Oil and other corporate polluters financially responsible for the climate crisis.
This case is an important first step to making Big Oil pay — but it’s not the end. Exxon and the fossil fuel industry at large can’t just be held liable to their shareholders. The harm they’ve done to our communities and climate has affected us all, and that’s especially true for those of us who are poor and/or people of color. The people most affected by the climate crisis don’t usually hold stock in Exxon.
The call to make corporate polluters pay can’t just be a case of the rich paying off the rich — that’s exactly what got us into this mess. Working together, we can seize the opportunity created by New York v. ExxonMobil to demand fossil fuel companies pay for all the costs of the climate crisis. That starts by pressuring our elected officials to use their authority to make that happen.
We know what we’re suggesting is ambitious, and it’s exactly the kind of measure we need in this climate crisis. Five years ago, most people wouldn’t have believed that we’d see ExxonMobil in court for creating the climate crisis. We’re seeing it now because people power made it happen. And that’s exactly how we’ll achieve this next goal: making fossil fuel companies pay.
Let’s do this,
Dominique
350.org is a global movement that fights for a just and equitable world by stopping the fossil fuel industry from continuing to destroy our climate.
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