For Immediate Release
October 18, 2022
Media Contact: Anjuli.Ramos@sierraclub.org, 267-399-6422
NJ Sues Against Big Oil for Climate Damages
Jersey City- Today the NJ Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Consumer Affairs, and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection have filed a lawsuit on behalf of New Jersey residents against five oil and gas companies and a petroleum trade association alleging they knowingly made false claims to deceive the public about the existence of climate change and the degree to which their fossil fuel products have been exacerbating anthropogenic global warming. The suit filed today in New Jersey Superior Court names as defendant Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Oil Company, Chevron Corporation, BP, ConocoPhillips, and the trade group in which these defendants were members- American Petroleum Institute (API).
In addition to asking the court for an injunction ordering the energy companies to stop deceiving New Jersey consumers about the destructive environmental impacts of fossil fuels, the State is socking civil monetary penalties and damages, including natural resource damages such as the joss of substantial wetlands throughout the slate, alleging taxpayers will be saddled with billions in expenses to protect communities from rising sea levels, deader storms, and other climate- related harms and to mitigate those harms by transitioning to non-fossil fuel energy generation costs that should be borne by the defendants.
This announcement comes on the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy’s destruction 10 years ago. Hurricane Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in the history of New Jersey with $30 billion in damages. There are now at least 20 pending lawsuits filed by cities and states across the country including Hoboken, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia accusing the fossil fuel industry of misleading the public on climate change.
“We thank NJ Attorney General Platkin, Commissioner LaTourette, and Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, Cari Fais, for holding Big Oil accountable for climate damages. The fossil fuel industry has been misleading the public and withholding information for many decades on their impact on climate change. It’s about time for them to start paying for the damages they have brought to our environment and to our people. We are approaching the 10th Anniversary of Sandy and its devastation is still felt today. Superstorm Sandy cost the state over $30 billion dollars alone which is why accountability matters. This is especially important when we continue to see harsher climate impacts, more hurricanes, more flooding, and more destruction,” said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Director of the Sierra Club. “New Jersey cannot afford another Sandy which is why it's finally time for Big Oil to be held responsible and pay for their climate damages.”