The “heat
dome”
that engulfed the Pacific Northwestern US for three days in June 2021 was
unlike anything the region had ever endured. Temperatures in various areas peaked at 108°, 112°
and 116°F in a wave of extreme heat that tested the limits of a part of the
world that rarely sees triple-digit temperatures in the hottest parts of summer.
The situation renewed calls linking climate change to extreme weather events —
so much so that leaders in Multnomah County, Oregon (which includes
Portland) decided to formally sue 17 fossil fuel-producing companies
including Shell, ExxonMobil and BP. The suit aims to not only hold
these companies accountable for the heat dome — which the County says led to 69
deaths in its jurisdiction — but more broadly for the acceleration of climate
change over the past six decades.
"This lawsuit is about accountability and fairness; and I believe the people of
Multnomah County deserve both. These businesses knew their products were unsafe
and harmful, and they lied about it," said County Chair Jessica Vega
Pederson in a
press
release.
"They have profited massively from their lies and left the rest of us to suffer
the consequences and pay for the damages. We say enough is enough."
It's been shown that fossil-fuel companies have long been aware of the harmful impacts of their
products and have intentionally deceived the public to deny this harm. In 2015,
the Union of Concerned Scientists released a damning
report
documenting the deception tactics used for decades by fossil fuel companies
including Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy to
spread misinformation about climate change. The Climate Deception Dossiers
cites evidence including congressional hearings that discussed the contribution
of carbon emissions to the greenhouse effect as early as 1977, a 1981 email from
an Exxon employee that shows the company was already factoring climate
change into decisions about fossil-fuel extraction, and over 80 other internal
memos showing a variety of industry efforts to manufacture uncertainty about
climate science.
In the past decade, institutional investors have issued repeated calls for
fossil-fuel giants to report on their
risks
related to climate change and stranded
assets
and to stop dragging their
feet
on developing and scaling renewable-energy solutions; and have suggested the
industry be
taxed
to pay for the costs to society and the environment associated with climate
change. But these
changes
have been slow to emerge.
In the meantime, Multnomah County is seeking $50 million in actual damages from
the 2021 event and $1.5 billion in future damages — along with an estimated
$50 billion abatement fund to study, plan and upgrade the public healthcare
services and infrastructure that will be reasonably necessary to “weatherproof”
the County from future extreme heat events and to safeguard the public health.
Just the latest case on the docket
The Multnomah County lawsuit is sure to either support, or continue to
challenge, upcoming rulings — such as the pending judgment in Held v. Montana,
which is being lauded as the country’s first major challenge to hold state
governments accountable for climate change. That suit, spearheaded by 16 young
adults in Montana, relies on the grounds of the “right to a healthy environment”
that’s written into the state’s constitution. The trial ended last week and the ruling isn’t expected to be
decided for weeks; but whatever the decision, it will set a game-changing
precedent.
Some of the cases with the most potential are being filed by Our Children’s
Trust — a public-interest non-profit law firm that guided the Held plaintiff
through its case. The group has worked, or is working, on pending litigation in
four other states —
all revolving around the similar argument of a constitutional right to a clean
and healthy environment. Whereas three states currently have guarantees, nine
more
states
are working on legislation this year to craft similar amendments.
Where this goes from here
This is going to be a slow process — even if Held offers a quick
judgment in favor of those filing the suit.
Any ruling will need to make its way through the courts — likely moving to the federal
level, maybe even to the Supreme Court — before anything finally sticks.
Also, whatever happens through the US courts will potentially set a further
global precedent for climate-change accountability. What will be interesting to
watch is how the argument linking corporate and state activity to climate change
through climate science comes to life.
“What is new about this case’s (argument) is how the leadership of Multnomah
County is utilizing irrefutable climate science to hold corporate polluters
accountable for their role in causing a discreet and disastrous event, as well
as recent
wildfires,”
attorney Roger Worthington — a partner at California-based Worthington
& Caron, PC, one of three firms representing Multnomah County in the suit — said through
a press release. “We will show that fossil fuel-induced global warming is
already costing Oregonians lives and treasure. We will show that the normal use
of fossil fuel products over time has imposed massive external, unpriced and
untraded social, economic and environmental costs on the County … We will ask a
jury to decide if it is fair to hold the polluters accountable for these
avoidable and rising costs.”
Considering the rapid changes to the global climate we’re all enduring, that may
not be as far-fetched of an argument as it once was.
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Geoff is a freelance journalist and copywriter focused on making the world a better place through compelling copy. He covers everything from apparel to travel while helping brands worldwide craft their messaging. In addition to Sustainable Brands, he's currently a contributor at Penta, AskMen.com, Field Mag and many others. You can check out more of his work at geoffnudelman.com.
Published Jun 27, 2023 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST