Maine AG Aaron Frey: AG Frey Files Suit Against Fossil Fuel Companies for Deceiving Mainers about Climate Change
AG Frey announced that he has filed suit in state court against Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute for deceiving Mainers for decades about the role of their fossil fuel products in causing climate change.
AUGUSTA, Maine – Attorney General Aaron Frey today announced that he has filed suit in state court against Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Sunoco, and the American Petroleum Institute for deceiving Mainers for decades about the role of their fossil fuel products in causing climate change. The State seeks to hold the Defendants accountable for failing to warn Mainers and concealing their knowledge about the devastating consequences of the increasing use of fossil fuels on Maine’s people, economy, and environment. This conduct has resulted in enormous financial burdens, public health impacts, property damage and other harms across Maine as a result of extreme weather, sea-level rise, and warmer temperatures. The complaint alleges that the Defendants knew about the potentially catastrophic consequences an increasing use of fossil fuels would cause as early as the 1960s, and the industry’s internal analysis proved remarkably accurate. But rather than warn the public of these consequences, the Defendants protected their own assets from climate change impacts and deployed strategic public relations campaigns designed to discredit the scientific consensus on climate change, create doubt in the minds of the public about the climate change impacts of burning fossil fuels, and delay the energy economy’s transition to a lower-carbon future, all while maximizing their own profits.
“For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects,” said Attorney General Frey. “In so doing, they burdened the State and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception.”
The State’s complaint details past, current, and future injuries caused by Defendants’ conduct and alleges seven violations of Maine law against all the Defendants, including failure to warn, negligence, nuisance (public, private and statutory), trespass, and violations under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act. It also alleges that the American Petroleum Institute “aided and abetted” the fossil fuel companies’ deceptive conduct.