New York City has filed a lawsuit against five major oil companies, joining a growing list of cities seeking billions of dollars to pay for damages caused by climate change.
The suit against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell asserts that they are the largest contributors to climate change and that they should bear the brunt of paying for the costs of protecting city infrastructure from rising seas and extreme weather.
“Defendants are collectively responsible, through their production, marketing and sale of fossil fuels, for over 11 percent of all the carbon and methane pollution from industrial sources that has accumulated in the atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution,” lawyers for the city said in a complaint filed in Manhattan late Tuesday.
“Defendants are also responsible for leading the public relations strategy for the entire fossil fuel industry, downplaying the risks of climate change and promoting fossil fuel use despite the risks,” they said.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, contends that the companies marketed and sold fossil fuel products despite knowing for decades that they would negatively impact coastal areas. A recent study found that New York City could see Hurricane Sandy-like flooding once every five years by 2030, as rising seas put low-lying areas increasingly at risk. Sandy caused $19 billion in damage in the city, and killed 43 people there.
“This lawsuit is based on the claim that a corporation that makes a product causing severe harm when used exactly as intended should shoulder the costs of abating that harm,” the city said in the complaint.
The response from oil companies was not surprising, particularly given the news this week that Exxon is trying to push back against five California cities that have filed similar suits against the company.
Curtis Smith, a spokesman for Shell, said by email: “We believe climate change is a complex societal challenge that should be addressed through sound government policy and cultural change to drive low-carbon choices for businesses and consumers, not by the courts.”
Others were a bit more combative in response to Wednesday’s news.
The National Association of Manufacturers also weighed in. “Mayor de Blasio is just the latest mayor to lead his city into misguided litigation against America’s energy manufacturers,” said Linda Kelly, the group’s general counsel. “This is part of a deep-rooted, politically motivated campaign to undermine manufacturing in America, and we will continue our work to expose this coordinated effort.”
Protestations aside, the effects of anthropogenic warming are clear, as heat records continue to fall across the globe and coastal cities gird for seas that could be up to six feet higher by 2100. In filing its suit, New York is joining the California cities of San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo, Imperial Beach, and Marin in trying to hold the oil companies responsible.