New Jersey officials on Tuesday announced a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips and the American Petroleum Institute trade group, alleging the companies misinformed the public about the connection between the fossil fuels and climate change. , reports CBS News. The lawsuit was filed in Mercer County Superior Court.
The state says these oil and gas companies have acted deceptively in order to continue extracting and burning fossil fuels, worsening climate change and costing billions of dollars cleaning up New Jersey from storms like the Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Ida, Reuters reports. Evidence has shown that storms like hurricanes are getting worse due to climate change.
The New Jersey case is not the first trial of its kind. Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont and the District of Columbia have all filed similar claims targeting oil and gas giants for their role in delaying climate action, The Guardian reports.
In previous cases, oil companies have attempted to move cases to federal court, which is generally considered more favorable to defendants, Reuters Remarks.
Exxon spokesman Casey Norton said lawsuits like these “waste millions of taxpayer dollars and do nothing to advance meaningful actions that reduce the risk of climate change.” Meanwhile, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement that “[Oil and gas companies] went to great lengths to hide the truth and mislead the people of New Jersey and the world.”