The election of Donald Trump has not quieted the climate cult's obsession with frivolous lawsuits. This week, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) accused the Pine Tree State of willingly concealing the role of fossil fuels in climate change from several major oil companies and prioritizing profits over the environment for more than six months. announced that they are filing a lawsuit. century.
lawsuit
Maine is seeking a jury trial and damages to alleviate the effects that so-called climate change has had on the state for decades. Defendants include Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Governor Janet Millsmain, also a Democrat, said:
For decades, big oil companies have paid out of the pockets of Maine people while deliberately deceiving people about the harmful effects of fossil fuels, effects that Maine people see and feel every day. It has raked in billions of dollars and generated record profits. Last winter's devastating storms are further proof that climate change is harming our lives, health, and economy, and it's time for the fossil fuel industry to be held accountable. Attorney General Frey has always championed what is best for the people of Maine, and we commend him for doing so once again by filing this important case on their behalf.
The state of Maine alleges in its lawsuit that oil companies showed careless disregard for fossil fuels when they continued to sell them despite knowing that their continued use risked causing extreme weather and adversely impacting the state. claims to be a person. Frey argued:
For more than half a century, these companies have chosen to expand their profits rather than follow the science to prevent potentially irreversible and catastrophic climate impacts. In doing so, they burdened the nation and its people with the consequences of their greed and deceit.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the oil company violated state law by committing negligence, nuisance, trespass, unfair trade practices, and failing to warn about the effects of fossil fuel use.
“defense”
Of course, the defendants do not agree with the charges.
“The ongoing, coordinated campaign to file meaningless, politicized lawsuits against America's essential industries and their workers has derailed important national debates,” API's Ryan Myers said in a statement. They are just turning a blind eye and wasting a huge amount of taxpayers' money.” “Climate policy should be debated and decided by Congress, not a patchwork of courts.”
Exxon told the New York Times that the claims in Maine's lawsuit “ignore the state's historic dependence on oil and natural gas, do nothing to address the risks of climate change, and defund taxpayers.” It's wasted.”
“Addressing climate change requires a coordinated federal and international policy response, not pointless state court lawsuits attacking essential energy production,” Chevron attorney Ted Boutras said in a statement. Ta. “Similar claims have been rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and state courts in Delaware and Maryland. As the Baltimore City Circuit Court recently held, 'I cannot give you any relief.'
Until now, oil companies have pursued a strategy of arguing that these lawsuits ultimately belong in federal rather than state courts. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that the Minnesota case can continue in state court.
Other lawsuits against Big Oil
About 20 states and local governments have been implicated in climate change, including New Jersey, California, Delaware, Minnesota, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. He is suing Big Oil.
Climate change enthusiasts were greatly encouraged by the Swiss government's victory in the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that it had failed to “quantify national greenhouse gas emissions limits, including through carbon budgets.” It was done.
Alarmists were further emboldened when the state of Hawaii chose to settle a climate change lawsuit filed by the climate horror group Our Children's Trust, allegedly on behalf of a group of children. It was done. Essentially, Hawaii pledged to enact certain “climate-friendly” measures.
But Maine and the other states involved in the lawsuit are suing the oil companies, hoping for financial compensation as well as concessions from climate-conscious governments. Their hill will be much harder to climb, and we expect fierce opposition from Big Oil.
Perhaps all these lawsuits would soon go away if oil companies stopped supplying these horrible fossil fuels to states that hate them so much. Let Maine and other climate-obsessed states go without the fuel they're willingly addicted to. Then perhaps they will understand their role in the alleged “climate crisis” they are facing.
