Puerto Rico sues oil companies for $1 billion in climate damages
Puerto Rico is suing fossil fuel companies for climate damage, arguing the industries knew about the dangers of their products and that the island is now paying the price.
Children ride their bikes in an area without power or running water, about two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck the Puerto Rican island of San Isidro on October 5, 2017. The island is seeking to hold the oil industry financially responsible for hurricanes and other disasters that could be worsened by rising temperatures.
Climate Wire Puerto Rico has filed a lawsuit against the oil and gas industry for at least $1 billion, joining more than 20 cities, counties and states seeking compensation for the effects of climate change.
It was filed Monday in San Juan Court of First Instance. In the lawsuit, Companies like ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron used unfair and deceptive trade practices to promote oil and gas, knowing their products would pollute the island and cause temperatures to rise.
The lawsuit alleges the companies failed to warn about the environmental risks associated with burning fossil fuels.
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“These companies have known internally for decades that greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel products harms the Earth’s climate and sea levels,” Attorney General Domingo Emanueli Hernández said in announcing the lawsuit.
But even as oil companies have taken steps to protect their assets from climate change, they have “failed to honestly warn Puerto Rican consumers about the consequences of using and burning fossil fuels on the island and the impacts that have on the environment,” he said.
According to the lawsuit, Puerto Rico has shouldered billions of dollars in costs to repair climate-related damages, including rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by more frequent and intense storms. The lawsuit asks the oil companies to contribute to a fund to mitigate environmental damage and strengthen infrastructure against damage from rising sea levels and storms.
Phil Goldberg, special counsel for the Manufacturers Liability Project, a National Association of Manufacturers effort that fights climate liability lawsuits, said Puerto Rico’s challenge won’t lead to a solution.
“The challenge of our time is to develop the technologies and public policies so that we can produce and use energy in ways that are sustainable for the planet and affordable for people,” Goldberg said, “not to figure out how to creatively defend lawsuits that try to monetize climate change and provide no solutions.”
Puerto Rico is At least the third local government He plans to sue the oil industry this year in an effort to hold energy producers financially responsible for the effects of climate change, which, if successful, could result in billions of dollars in damages for the industry.
The industry says climate liability litigation is a waste of time and that energy policy should be decided by lawmakers. The companies are trying to move the cases to federal court, where they believe they would likely lose, and are asking the Supreme Court for help.
The Puerto Rican lawsuit Maryland judge scores major victory The city of Baltimore has dismissed a climate change liability lawsuit it filed against the oil industry, BP and other oil producers, in 2018. As with many other climate change lawsuits, the city had accused the oil giants of knowingly misleading consumers about the dangers of burning fossil fuels.
There is already one climate lawsuit pending in Puerto Rico. Twelve local governments filed lawsuits in 2022 The company filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, seeking damages from the power industry related to the 2017 hurricane season, which left thousands of people dead and left much of the island without power for nearly a year.
Exxon said during Puerto Rico’s final lawsuit that such litigation “wastes millions of dollars of taxpayer money and does nothing to advance meaningful action to reduce the risks of climate change.”
The company said it will “continue to invest in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while responding to society’s growing energy demand.”
Source E&E News Posted with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News delivers news that matters to energy and environmental professionals.
