Last week, Exxon/Mobile found itself in a New York City courtroom. According to a filed report entitled, “America Misled: How the fossil fuel industry deliberately misled Americans about climate change,” Exxon executives knew for nearly six decades that the product they craft will heat up the planet. Scientist from George Mason University and the University of Bristol (my alma mater) wrote that report and lay claim that:

For sixty years, the fossil fuel industry has known about the potential global warming dangers of their products. But instead of warning the public or doing something about it, they . . . orchestrated a massive campaign of denial and delay designed to protect profits. The evidence is incontrovertible: Exxon misled the public.[1]

Photo from “The People’s Climate March,” in Washington D.C., April 2017

Already massive fires in California, flooding in Texas and Florida, salt water intrusion in the Carolinas, flooded farm fields in the Midwest, and massive storms such as Katrina and Sandy have tallied near a trillion dollars in damage. Government and insurance industry adjustments to these new norms have been slow. Precedence is what awaits not just Exxon/Mobile but the entire petroleum industry in that New York State Supreme Courthouse. The lawsuit claims that Exxon knew of the forthcoming damages but, rather than make adjustments to make their outputs safer, they instead invested in a campaign of denial, basically lying to the American people in order to protect profits and investors.

History is watching waiting to see how the court will decide. If Exxon is found guilty, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely hear the case.

[1] “Well Said,” Rutland Herald (Oct 28, 2019), https://www.rutlandherald.com/opinion/editorials/well-said/article_7b065324-53e5-5d4b-ba4f-5a6033a515ee.html