Puerto Rico files $1 billion suit against fossil fuel companies

Puerto Rico filed suit against fossil fuels companies this week, alleging that the lipid and state giants person misled the nationalist astir clime alteration and delayed a modulation to cleanable energy. The suit seeks $1 cardinal successful damages to assistance Puerto Rico support itself against clime disasters.

In a complaint filed successful San Juan yesterday, Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice says that the companies violated commercialized instrumentality by promoting fossil fuels without adequately informing astir the dangers. The defendants see ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and different vigor companies.

It’s the latest successful a slew of lawsuits attempting to clasp fossil substance companies accountable for the consequences of clime change. Greenhouse state emissions from fossil fuels are supercharging storms and different utmost upwind events portion rising seas devour distant astatine land shorelines. Fossil substance companies knew for decades that their products would origin planetary warming and went astir concern arsenic accustomed anyway, several studies and investigations have found.

In the complaint, Puerto Rico says it expects to wage billions of dollars successful the aboriginal to header with catastrophes made worse by clime alteration — including storms similar Hurricane Maria, which killed thousands of radical successful 2017 and triggered months-long powerfulness outages.

The suit asks defendants to lend to a money that would beryllium utilized to mitigate the consequences of clime alteration and wage for measures to fortify Puerto Rico’s infrastructure against aboriginal climate-related calamities.

BP declined to remark connected the suit. Other multinational vigor companies named successful the suit didn’t instantly respond to The Verge.

Thirty-seven municipalities successful Puerto Rico and the capital metropolis of San Juan have antecedently filed suit against fossil substance companies, seeking to clasp them accountable for devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria.

“It’s much important than ever for officials to basal up to the fossil substance manufacture connected behalf of their communities. The radical of Puerto Rico merit their time successful tribunal to clasp Big Oil accountable,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity that tracks clime cases and provides ineligible support, said successful an emailed statement.