Maine joined the growing number of climate accountability lawsuits against Big Oil across the United States.. The state’s Attorney General Aaron Frey filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute for the role their fossil fuel products played in the climate crisis.
In the lawsuit, Maine said that Big Oil should pay for years of climate deception.
“Big Oil companies have lied for decades about the catastrophic harm they knew their products would cause, and now Maine has joined a growing wave of communities across the U.S. that are demanding accountability,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said.
Maine joined California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as well as dozens of municipal and tribal governments in filing lawsuits to “hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change,” according to a press release.
“These polluters continue to fuel the climate crisis and lie about it to protect their profits,” Wiles said. “It’s only right that Big Oil companies pay their fair share of the damage their deception has caused. With Maine’s lawsuit, the demands that Big Oil faces accountability for decades of climate lies are growing louder and more powerful.”
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