NYC next up to sue Big Oil

New York City has become the latest city in America to sue the world’s largest oil companies over their industrial contributors to climate change. The case against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell is City of New York v. BP Plc, 18-cv-00182, and is to be heard in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo, Imperial Beach, and Marin, Calif., had previously filed suits against the oil industry over the environmental impact of fossil fuels. The suit claims the companies are “collectively responsible” for more than 11 percent of all carbon and methane pollution from industrial sources “since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution," lawyers for NYC said in their complaint late on Jan. 9. NYC hopes to build on its legal efforts against producers of asbestos products, cigarettes, and lead paint as an extension of legal responsibility. The lawsuit is based on claims that corporations make on products causing severe harm when used exactly as intended, and that those firms “should shoulder the costs of abating that harm," the city said in the complaint. (Source: Bloomberg 01/11/18) Gulf Coast Note: In 2014, the Top 10 emitting states were responsible for nearly half of the America’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nearly equal to the combined emissions of Japan, Canada, Germany, or all of India, according to a report by the World Resources Institute. Louisiana accounted for 3.4 percent of U.S. emissions (#8). Texas, California, and Pennsylvania were the Top 3. Florida was #6.