Maine’s attorney general filed suit Tuesday against several major oil companies, alleging negligence, nuisance, unfair trade practices, failure to warn and trespass as parens patrie. The parties being sued include Exxon, Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum (BP), Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
In the complaint filed by the state, the attorney general alleges that large oil conglomerates mislead consumers about the role of greenhouse gases and human behavior in climate change, knowing the risks that climate change poses to the public. It emphasizes that the public relations campaign was fabricated. The complaint cites internal memos and communications within companies like BP that show awareness of the impacts of climate change. The complaint also included a video in which Exxon executives admitted to restricting climate change policies to maximize profits.
The oil companies argued that concerns about climate change were “unnecessarily catastrophic,” but the lawsuit alleges greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and the acid rain and abnormalities that climate change has inflicted on Maine. It highlights that evidence shows a link with many environmental hazards, including weather. Weather phenomena and sea level rise.
The complaint alleges that the defendant companies breached their duty of care to Maine residents. Mr. Mayne argues that, given their knowledge of climate change, the defendants could have reasonably foreseen climate change-related damages, including environmental and economic damages. Nevertheless, the defendant party continued its information campaign, constituting common law negligence. API’s role in collaborating with defendant oil companies to disseminate false claims about the safety of climate change constitutes unfair trade practices and civil aid under Maine’s Fair Trade Practices Act, which targets companies. -Also the basis for the state’s claim against API for abetting. There are civil penalties for engaging in unfair trade practices.
The complaint also states that the defendants’ actions constitute a private and public nuisance through the release of greenhouse gases. These companies appear to have compromised the reasonable enjoyment and safety of individual Maine residents’ private lives due to the effects of climate change. Climate change impacts will also require significant public funding and may damage or restrict the use of federal lands.
Through a policy of climate change denialism and misinformation, the defendants were also accused of failing to provide statutory warnings. To the extent that defendant oil companies were aware of the dangers their products posed to the public and still failed to warn the public, the state should be liable to the extent of the costs incurred by the state in making adjustments. It is claimed that there is. Climate change under the Maine Civil Procedure Code.
The state seeks an injunction against further property damage and nuisance, punitive and retributive damages, and deprivation of benefits to the defendants, and hopes the court will rule in the state’s favor on the trespass and deceptive trade practices claims. I’m asking you to lower it.