Swordsmyth
03-23-2018, 02:01 PM
There has been no conspiracy by Big Oil to suppress climate change facts, District Judge William Alsup said (http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/21/federal-judge-conspiracy-exxon-chevron/) at a court hearing on the suit brought against several Big Oil companies by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland.
This means one of the main pillars of the plaintiffs’ case has been toppled. The suit alleged that the five Big Oil defendants engaged in “a large-scale, sophisticated advertising and public relations campaign” aimed at promoting the use of their products despite their awareness that these products were contributing to climate change.
The Five Big Oil majors, including Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and BP, were questioned by the judge on Wednesday on climate change as the two California cities seek billions from them to tackle environmental damage resulting, according to the plaintiffs, from the defendants’ activities.
The five companies’ stance is that the lawsuit should be dismissed, Reuters noted (https://www.reuters.com/article/oil-climatechange-hearing/u-s-judge-to-question-big-oil-on-climate-change-idUSL1N1R21OY) in a report on the hearing, because control over the production of oil and gas and carbon emissions from the industry is the prerogative of environmental regulators and not courts.
The Big Oil defendants have also argued (https://www.chem.info/news/2018/03/judge-holds-climate-change-class-suits-against-big-oil) the environmental damage the two cities’ authorities claim they have sustained is “speculative”, involving billions of people using oil and gas as well as long environmental processes.
More at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/No-Big-Oil-Conspiracy-On-Climate-Change-Judge-Says-In-Shocking-Ruling.html
This means one of the main pillars of the plaintiffs’ case has been toppled. The suit alleged that the five Big Oil defendants engaged in “a large-scale, sophisticated advertising and public relations campaign” aimed at promoting the use of their products despite their awareness that these products were contributing to climate change.
The Five Big Oil majors, including Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and BP, were questioned by the judge on Wednesday on climate change as the two California cities seek billions from them to tackle environmental damage resulting, according to the plaintiffs, from the defendants’ activities.
The five companies’ stance is that the lawsuit should be dismissed, Reuters noted (https://www.reuters.com/article/oil-climatechange-hearing/u-s-judge-to-question-big-oil-on-climate-change-idUSL1N1R21OY) in a report on the hearing, because control over the production of oil and gas and carbon emissions from the industry is the prerogative of environmental regulators and not courts.
The Big Oil defendants have also argued (https://www.chem.info/news/2018/03/judge-holds-climate-change-class-suits-against-big-oil) the environmental damage the two cities’ authorities claim they have sustained is “speculative”, involving billions of people using oil and gas as well as long environmental processes.
More at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/No-Big-Oil-Conspiracy-On-Climate-Change-Judge-Says-In-Shocking-Ruling.html