Rhode Island became the first state to file a lawsuit on July 2 against multiple oil majors. The lawsuit accuses the companies of contributing to climate change that is damaging infrastructure and coastal communities in the state, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit announced by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin seeks to hold oil companies responsible for costs associated with climate change and uses the public nuisance argument filed in similar cases by several local governments nationally.
On June 25, The U.S. District Court of the Northen District of California dismissed a similar argument by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland against oil majors Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips. The court dismissed the complaint as requiring foreign and domestic policy decisions that are outside the proper purview of the courts.
The lawsuit, filed in Providence County Superior Court, named as defendants those same five, among other companies.
Shell, in a statement, said, “lawsuits that masquerade as climate action and impede the collaboration needed for meaningful change” were not the answer to climate change. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Rhode Island’s lawsuit contends that the companies sought to refute scientific findings regarding how greenhouse gas pollution was causing climate change, and failed to prevent the harm that would result from consumers’ using fossil fuel products.
The lawsuit said that companies also violated the state’s Environmental Rights Act by polluting and destroying natural resources in Rhode Island.
Kilmartin is seeking to force the companies to pay for damages associated with climate change, citing the costs taxpayers were incurring to repair roads and bridges and rebuild coastal structures.
The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as orders requiring the companies to pay abatement costs and to disgorge profits.
Recommended Reading
GEODynamic’s EPIC Perforating Technologies for Wireline Solutions
2024-03-12 - The EPIC Precision and EPIC Flex top-loading gun systems are engineered to be used across a broad range of unconventional well designs for extremely reliable plug-and-perf completions.
TGS, SLB to Conduct Engagement Phase 5 in GoM
2024-02-05 - TGS and SLB’s seventh program within the joint venture involves the acquisition of 157 Outer Continental Shelf blocks.
2023-2025 Subsea Tieback Round-Up
2024-02-06 - Here's a look at subsea tieback projects across the globe. The first in a two-part series, this report highlights some of the subsea tiebacks scheduled to be online by 2025.
StimStixx, Hunting Titan Partner on Well Perforation, Acidizing
2024-02-07 - The strategic partnership between StimStixx Technologies and Hunting Titan will increase well treatments and reduce costs, the companies said.
Tech Trends: QYSEA’s Artificially Intelligent Underwater Additions
2024-02-13 - Using their AI underwater image filtering algorithm, the QYSEA AI Diver Tracking allows the FIFISH ROV to identify a diver's movements and conducts real-time automatic analysis.