CHICAGO — The City of Chicago is suing five oil and gas companies and a trade group that represents them over their role in contributing to climate change and its effects, arguing that the companies have misled the public about how the use of fossil fuels affects city residents’ well-being.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, accuses BP, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and the American Petroleum Institute of mounting a climate deception campaign about burning fossil fuels to protect their profits.
Chicago is the latest in a slew of government bodies taking legal action against fossil fuel distributors over how climate change has affected cities and states. Cities in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico have taken similar actions since 2017, according to a release from the Center for Climate Integrity.
Chicago, represented by its own attorneys and lawyers from Chicago firm DiCello Levitt and San Francisco firm Sher Edling, is not seeking a specific sum from the defendants. However, it is demanding they reimburse the city for the costs incurred from climate change-related events such as infrastructure and property damage.
Attorneys argue that Chicagoans have faced significant challenges due to climate change, including warmer winters, less ice coverage on Lake Michigan and other lakes, heat waves, and more heavy rain events. The lawsuit emphasizes that low-income communities and those suffering from historical social, racial, economic, and health disparities have borne the brunt of the damage.
The companies are accused of knowing for decades that their products would contribute to atmospheric warming and yet actively promoted the use of fossil fuels, exacerbating climate change and resulting in devastating impacts on the city of Chicago. The lawsuit likened their marketing tactics to the tobacco industry’s response to health research on smoking. The American Petroleum Institute also stands accused of assisting in campaigns to cast doubt on climate change causes, prolonging the use of fossil fuels to the detriment of Chicagoans.
In response to the lawsuit, the institute’s lawyer dismissed the claims as baseless, asserting that climate policy falls under the purview of Congress, not cities. Chevron’s lawyer echoed similar sentiments, referring to the litigation as unnecessary interference in lawful energy production and emphasized the role of international policymakers in shaping climate change policies.
A case management hearing is scheduled for June 20 as the legal battle between the city of Chicago and the oil and gas companies intensifies. This move is part of a broader trend of cities and states holding fossil fuel entities accountable for their contribution to climate change impacts and seeking to recover the costs of mitigating climate-related damages.
