Name: DC Is the Latest to Sue Exxon and Big Oil for Climate Disinformation Campaigns
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DC Is the Latest to Sue Exxon and Big Oil for Climate Disinformation Campaigns

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Series:Series:Washington, is suing the four largest investor-owned oil and gas companies —&nbsp;, Chevron, , and Shell — for allegedly misleading consumers about climate change, including historically undermining&nbsp;climate science and even now using&nbsp;deceptive advertising about the companies’ role in leading solutions to the climate&nbsp;crisis.District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine the consumer fraud lawsuit on Thursday, June 25. The &nbsp;claims that the four oil majors violated the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act by engaging in misleading acts and practices around the marketing, promotion, and sale of fossil fuel products, which produce globe-warming pollution. The lawsuit alleges that these companies knew since at least the 1950s about the harmful consequences of burning fossil fuels and that they engaged in a campaign to deceive the public about those&nbsp;risks.: For decades, spent millions to mislead consumers and discredit science in pursuit of profits.We’re suing these companies over deceptive practices that threaten ‘s environment residents:— Karl A. Racine (@arlRacine)For decades, these oil and gas companies spent millions to mislead consumers and discredit climate science in pursuit of profits,” Attorney General&nbsp;Racine. “The defendants violated the District’s consumer protection law by concealing the fact that using fossil fuels threatens the health of District residents and the environment. [The Office of Attorney General]&nbsp;filed this suit to end these disinformation campaigns and to hold these companies accountable for their deceptive&nbsp;practices.”In particular, the Attorney General’s Office called out the oil industry’s use of fake grassroots groups, such as the , which started out as a front group for tobacco giant Philip Morris in 1993. This group had transitioned to become the&nbsp;Advancement of Sound Science Center in 1997 and was run out of the home of climate science denier&nbsp;, who most recently worked in public relations for coal company Murray Energy.&nbsp; The group&nbsp;has now been phased out of&nbsp;existence.The lawsuit also highlighted the role of&nbsp;oil and gas industry groups, including the and the now-defunct&nbsp;&nbsp;— a fossil fuel-backed&nbsp;group launched in 1989 that for decades influenced the scientific process behind the United Nations climate assessments, using lobbyists and industry-funded scientists to attack climate scientists and manipulate the international&nbsp;&nbsp;climate&nbsp;negotiations.The District of Columbia lawsuit is asking the court to order the companies to end their disinformation campaigns&nbsp;and pay civil&nbsp;penalties.The announcement from comes just one day after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Exxon, , and the American Petroleum Institute for allegedly leading a 30-year campaign undermining climate science and misleading the public about the dangers of fossil&nbsp;fuels.Already over a dozen cities, counties, and states across the country have filed lawsuits against ExxonMobil and other major fossil fuel companies in an attempt to hold the industry accountable for what is now a well-documented campaign to cast doubt on climate science and delay climate policies. While these lawsuits are grounded in varying legal claims such as public nuisance, product liability theories, and consumer fraud, they all aim to hold companies like Exxon and Chevron liable for deceptive communication about their products to protect profits, much like litigation against manufacturers of tobacco, lead paint, asbestos, and&nbsp;opioids.Like the Minnesota lawsuit filed the day before, the complaint explains the striking similarities between the tobacco industry’s campaign to deceive the public about the health risks of smoking, and the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to deliberately downplay the climate impacts of fossil&nbsp;fuels.According to a from the Attorney General’s Office, “The [oil] companies not only employed the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition — a fake grassroots citizen group created by Big Tobacco as part of the industry’s misinformation campaign — they also funded and promoted some of the same scientists hired by tobacco companies. These scientists disputed the conclusions of climate researchers, despite not having any training in climate science&nbsp;themselves.”The complaint also details how the fossil fuel industry’s communication tactics shifted once the climate science became&nbsp;indisputable.We’re researching algae biofuel with about 40% of its mass as fat, which can be turned into fuel. The swish is just a nice bonus.— ExxonMobil (@exxonmobil)More recently these&nbsp;oil and gas companies as environmentally responsible companies&nbsp;committed to solving climate change through investments in clean energy, and misleadingly promoting the fossil fuel natural gas as “clean.” The lawsuit claims this portrayal is deceptive because the companies’ actual investments in renewable energy like wind and solar are miniscule (Shell directed just 1.2 percent towards “greener” energy, for example), and because fossil fuel products like natural gas still produce carbon emissions, and during production,&nbsp;and therefore are not actually&nbsp;“clean.”The fact of the matter is that no fossil fuel product is ‘safe,’ nor ‘clean.’ It all creates carbon emissions, and it all represents a threat to consumers,” Attorney General&nbsp;Racine during a press&nbsp;call.ExxonMobil is facing other lawsuits for alleged&nbsp;deceptive advertising and misleading consumers, including from the city and county of , the , an environmental organization called , and most recently the .Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton told DeSmog,&nbsp;“This lawsuit further demonstrates the ongoing coordinated, politically motivated campaign against energy companies. Legal proceedings like this waste millions of dollars of taxpayer money and do nothing to advance meaningful actions that reduce the risks of climate&nbsp;change.”According to Chevron spokesperson Sean Comey, “The claims against the company are meritless. This type of litigation detracts from constructive efforts to address the important policy issues presented by climate&nbsp;change.”According to D.C.’s Deputy Attorney General in the Public Advocacy Division, Kate Konopka, the District did not coordinate with Minnesota and was not even aware of Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuit until it was filed yesterday. The Attorney General Karl Racine has been investigating Big Oil and ExxonMobil in particular for potential fraud for the past several years, as had attorneys general in New York and&nbsp;Massachusetts.The investigations followed groundbreaking investigative reporting in 2015 revealing the of climate change. Over the last five years researchers and journalists have uncovered even more demonstrating not only what fossil fuel companies knew about climate science and when, but how they worked to conceal that knowledge and create a false impression of scientific&nbsp;uncertainty.&nbsp;The remarkable thing about these cases is how much evidence we have even before we get to discovery,” Kert Davies, founder and director of the watchdog group , told DeSmog. “We have a mountain of evidence of what they knew and what they did to deceive the public about the threat of climate change. And yet we’ve only scratched the&nbsp;surface.”*Updated 6/25/20 to include a comment from&nbsp;Chevron.Stay up to date with DeSmog news and alertsThe labelling will "deceive or confuse" consumers, say experts.The labelling will "deceive or confuse" consumers, say experts.The federal government has broad authority to take action to slash greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report, including transforming an oft-forgotten Southeast public power corporation into a force for clean energy.The federal government has broad authority to take action to slash greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report, including transforming an oft-forgotten Southeast public power corporation into a force for clean energy.Two are advisors to a well-connected "forum" set up by the BP-funded Institute of Economic Affairs that wants to see UK fracking regulations relaxed.Two are advisors to a well-connected "forum" set up by the BP-funded Institute of Economic Affairs that wants to see UK fracking regulations relaxed.Green MP Caroline Lucas said climate sceptics and “delayers” should be “nowhere near the prime minister’s top team”.Green MP Caroline Lucas said climate sceptics and “delayers” should be “nowhere near the prime minister’s top team”.Clearing the PR PollutionSectionsDatabasesTopicsDeSmogFollowClearing the PR PollutionSectionsDatabasesTopicsDeSmogFollowWebsite byStay up to date with DeSmog news and alertsResultsSee all resultsStay up to date with DeSmog news and alerts

Series:Series:Washington, is suing the four largest investor-owned oil and gas companies —&nbsp;, Chevron, , and Shell — for allegedly misleading consumers about climate change, including historically undermining&nbsp;climate science and even now using&nbsp;deceptive advertising about the companies’ role in leading solutions to the climate&nbsp;crisis.District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine the consumer fraud lawsuit on Thursday, June 25. The &nbsp;claims that the four oil majors violated the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act by engaging in misleading acts and...

DC Is the Latest to Sue Exxon and Big Oil for Climate Disinformation Campaigns

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