The city of New York filed a lawsuit on Thursday against oil multinationals ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP for “misleading consumers by exaggerating their investments in clean energy.”
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In the 97-page complaint, the companies are also accused of ‘presenting more beautifully’ the climate benefits of natural gas, biofuels and hydrogen. The city also accuses the companies, as well as the powerful industry federation API, of ‘misrepresenting’ the climate impacts of fossil fuels.
The fight against climate change also means “tackling some of the biggest polluting false advertising and greenwashing companies,” said the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. The complaint was filed on the opening day of the virtual climate summit led by US President Joe Biden.
“When oil companies advertise their products with words like“ greener ”or“ cleaner, ”while failing to disclose the true impact of those products, it undermines the consumer’s ability to make informed decisions,” says Lorelei Salas of the city’s Consumer and Worker Protection Service (DCWP).
No success with previous cases
It is not the first time that New York has taken on the oil giants. The city government filed a lawsuit in January 2018 against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell over their responsibility for climate change. That lawsuit was dismissed on appeal in early April.
New York City also lost a lawsuit against ExxonMobil in late 2019, which was accused of misleading investors by falsely claiming to have fully incorporated the risks of tougher greenhouse gas emissions legislation into its long-term forecasts.
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