Joe Biden’s fiery speech on climate change is having an impact everywhere. New York City also seems to be advocating better climate conditions very quickly. In this situation, however, not through financial means. It pillories the big oil multinationals. The largest US city has sued ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, as well as the American Petroleum Institute lobbying group, for misleading advertising and fraudulent business practices. The corporations would systematically hide their role in climate pollution through PR campaigns, announced Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday (local time).
New York assumes the opposite
The companies were among the biggest polluters of the environment, but would advertise their products as “greener” and “cleaner”, complained Lorelei Salas from the department for consumer and worker protection. The oil companies should not be allowed to profit from this hoax. The city demands that the allegedly illegal “greenwashing” be banned and that the companies pay fines.
The head of the legal department of the American Petroleum Institute, Paul Afonso, described the lawsuit in the US media as “unfounded”. An Exxon spokesman referred to an earlier New York lawsuit over alleged climate change false statements, in which the oil company was acquitted in 2019. Such lawsuits would do nothing useful to solve environmental problems, said the spokesman. There were initially no comments from BP and Shell.
Environmentalists have long been demanding stricter climate targets from companies in the industry. Exxon, for example, said it did so at the end of 2020 and sees itself in line with the Paris climate agreement. However, the targets relate to emission intensity, which is not about an absolute reduction in greenhouse gases. Thus, the emission of environmentally harmful emissions could initially continue to increase with increasing oil production in the future.
Editorial team onvista / dpa-AFX
Foto: EpicStockMedia / Shutterstock.com
– –
