AG Aaron M. Frey
Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco and the American Petroleum Institute have been sued in state court for deceiving Mainers for decades about the role of their fossil fuel production in causing climate change by Attorney General Aaron Frey his office announced this morning. The state seeks to hold the defendants accountable for failing to warn Mainers and concealing their knowledge about the devastating consequences of the increasing use of fossil fuels on Maine’s people, economy and environment. This conduct has resulted in economic financial burdens, public health impacts, property damage and other harms across Maine as a result of extreme weather, sea-level rise and warmer temperatures.
The complaint alleges that the defendants knew about the potentially catasrophic consequences an increasing use of fossil fueld would cause as early as the 1960s and the industry’s internal analysis proved remarkably accurate. But rather than warn the public of these consequences, the defendants protected their own assets from climate change impacts and deployed strategic public relations campaigns designed to discredit the scientific consensus on climate change, create doubt in the minds of the public about the climate change impacts of burning fossil fuels, and delay the energy economy’s transition to a lower-carbon future, all while maximizing their own profits.
“For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their own science to prevent what are now likely inevitable, catastrophic climate efforts,” said Attorney General Frey. “In so doing, they burdened the State and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception.”
The State is asking that the court require the defendants to pay for both past and future climate harms by the defendants, a figure which continues to rise each day and to require the defendants to cease their ongoing deception in Maine. The State demands a jury trial.
More than 20 states, tribes, cities and counties have brought climate deception lawsuits to date according to the press release issued by the Attorney General’s office this morning. They include but are not limited to: New Jersey, California, Delaware, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts.