California Sues Big Oil Demanding Damages, Relief

The state of California has taken oil and gas giants to court over alleged decades of deception during which the industry ignored scientific warnings about global warming in pursuit of profits.

Named as primary defendants in the suit announced over the weekend are BP PLC, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., ExxonMobil Corp., Phillips 66 Co., Shell PLC and the industry group American Petroleum Institute (API).

The state government under Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic party is accusing the respondents of over 50 years of active participation in deception and disinformation such as by concealing information and marketing using false information.

"Oil executives deceived the public for decades about how fossil fuels are hurting our health and destroying our planet, protecting their own profits while sticking taxpayers with the bill for the damages", Newsom's office said in a press release about the suit filed before the San Francisco Superior Court.

"Industry-funded reports directly linked fossil fuel consumption to rising global temperatures and damage to our air, land, and water", the media statement added.

The companies purportedly responded by taking advantage of this knowledge of the realities of climate change to strategize for growth including by, as stated in the suit document, "raising offshore oil platforms to protect against sea level rise; reinforcing offshore oil platforms to withstand increased wave strength and storm severity; and developing technology and infrastructure to extract, store, and transport fossil fuels in a warming Arctic environment".

The statement from the governor's office added, "The deception continues today: Oil companies promote fossil fuel products as 'clean' or 'green' or 'low-emissions' that still produce carbon pollution, and they tout their renewable fuel products that actually make up a fraction of a percent of their earnings".

The suit alleges, "While Defendants have promoted and/or profited from the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels, the State and its residents have spent, and will continue to spend, billions of dollars to recover from climate change-induced superstorms and wildfires; will have to allocate and manage dwindling water supplies in extreme drought; will have to fortify state infrastructure against sea level rise and coastal and inland flooding; and will have to protect California’s people, infrastructure, and natural resources from extreme heat and many other climate change hazards".

The suit is seeking "abatement, equitable relief, penalties, and damages" and wants the industry players stopped from perpetrating false and deceptive information about fossil fuels.

The demand for so-called equitable relief could mean restrictions for oil and gas development. The suit states, "Pursuant to Government Code section 12610, the State requests that this Court grant any and all temporary and permanent equitable relief needed to prevent further pollution, impairment and destruction of the natural resources of California, including the imposition of such conditions upon the Defendants as are required to protect the natural resources of California from pollution, impairment, or destruction".

In a statement emailed to Rigzone, Chevron said local courts are not legally empowered to dictate global energy policy.

"Climate change is a global problem that requires a coordinated international policy response, not piecemeal litigation for the benefit of lawyers and politicians", the San Ramon California-based company said. "California has long been a leading promoter of oil and gas development. 

"Its local courts have no constructive or constitutionally permissible role in crafting global energy policy".

Shell similarly said it does not believe the courtroom is the proper platform to address climate change.

"The Shell Group’s position on climate change has been a matter of public record for decades. We agree that action is needed now on climate change, and we fully support the need for society to transition to a lower-carbon future", the British company said in an email to Rigzone. "As we supply vital energy the world needs today, we continue to reduce our emissions and help customers reduce theirs.

"Addressing climate change requires a collaborative, society-wide approach. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress".

The lobby group API echoed in a statement, "Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system".

"The record of the past two decades demonstrates that the industry has achieved its goal of providing affordable, reliable American energy to U.S. consumers while substantially reducing emissions and our environmental footprint", the API told Rigzone in an email. "This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of California taxpayer resources".

BP, based in the United Kingdom, refused to comment, while Houston, Texas-headquartered Phillips 66 redirected Rigzone's request for comment to the API.

Rigzone also emailed a request for comment to ConocoPhillips, also based in Houston, but has yet to receive a response.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com