Big fossil fuel companies and their executives could face criminal prosecution under New York law for their role in fueling hurricanes and other climate disasters, according to a new report.
In a memo published by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, a group of “progressive” prosecutors and lawyers lay out the case for filing charges of reckless endangerment against Exxon-Mobil, Shell and other big petroleum companies whose products have generated a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are contributing to a warmer planet.
Internal documents show that fossil fuel companies have long known that their products would cause major damage, similar to the legal arguments made against big tobacco executives in the 1990s, the report’s authors wrote, saying New York case law would permit such legal challenges.
“Big Oil’s conduct was not just immoral. It was criminal,” said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “Reckless endangerment occurs when someone engages in reckless conduct that risks injuring or killing another person. That’s exactly what these companies and their CEOs have done by knowingly creating the climate crisis that is causing extreme – and extremely dangerous – weather events.”
The effort is backed by some Democrats in the state Legislature, who point out that New York has experienced many such disasters, including Hurricane Ida in 2021, which killed more than a dozen people and damaged tens of thousands of buildings. […]
— Read More: justthenews.com
