Puerto Rico is suing the oil industry for at least $1 billion, joining a list of nine states and dozens of local governments suing oil companies for creating “climate change” effects, E&E News reported.
The lawsuit, submitted Puerto Rico's Attorney General Domingo Emanueli Hernandez said on Monday BPAccording to a translation by E&E News, oil and gas giants Chevron, ExxonMobil and various other major energy companies lied about climate change by failing to warn about the environmental risks of using fossil fuels. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of climate change-related lawsuits filed by states, territories, local governments and individuals.
“These companies have known internally for decades that greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel products is damaging to the Earth's climate and sea levels,” Hernandez said in a statement announcing the lawsuit, E&E News reported. “Defendants engineered a disinformation campaign to discredit the science about the burning of fossil fuels and its impacts on climate change.”
TOP SHOT – High winds batter the coastal city of Fajardo as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico on September 19, 2017. Maria is heading toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico after battering the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, with the US National Hurricane Center warning of potentially “catastrophic” impacts. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP) (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images)
Ten attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as dozens of municipal or tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington and Puerto Rico, have filed lawsuits against the energy producers. according to To climate integrity. (Related article: Law firms set for big win in Blue City's climate change lawsuit against energy giants)
Individual groups also participated in this activity, with a group of 13 young people from Hawaii emerging as winners. $40 million settlement The Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) has filed a lawsuit against the state after accusing it of violating residents' rights by not taking sufficient steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Critics have questioned the standing of the lawsuits, arguing they are based on dubious theories and are an attempt by special interests to influence energy policy through legal means.
“Radical environmentalists are funding law firms like Schar Edling to engage in shadow policy crafting that would bankrupt American energy producers and ban fossil fuels,” Republican Sen. Cruz of Texas and a spokesperson for the Senate Commerce Committee told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
California-based law firm Schar Edling has a contingency fee agreement to represent Puerto Rico in the recently announced $1 billion lawsuit. according to Bloomberg Law employees have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates since 2016. according to Federal Election Commission data.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and Shah Edling also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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