California has filed a lawsuit against major oil companies including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and Shell for the international cover-up of their activities contributing to climate change and lying about the facts they have been aware of for decades. The American Petroleum Institute has also been named in the filing.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, in an interview on News Nation with host Chris Cuomo on Tuesday, said “They lied, they played us for fools!” Newsom went on to say the oil companies “had the data in the 50s, not the 70s and 80s … they had the facts, they had the data, they knew that burning fossil fuels, ‘coal, gas, and oil’ was going to do exactly what it has done and put this planet in distress,” referring to climate change issues.
He also stressed that they organized amongst themselves and because of their actions have delayed adaptation and implementation of clean energy strategies.
He went on to further state that to this day US politicians are being bought off by big oil, alleging that US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “was bought off for just a couple of million bucks” to roll back progress on electric vehicles.
In a social media post, Newsom stated: “California is suing Big Oil for lying about climate change. We’re taking five major oil companies to court for wreaking havoc on our planet and lying to people about the dangers of fossil fuels. It’s time they pay their fair share.”
California has the world’s fifth-largest economy and is closing in on Germany to be the fourth-largest economy.