San Francisco and Oakland Sue Big Oil on Climate

Sep 22, 2017

King tides at Pier 14 in San Francisco now put sea water on the pier surface and nearby street.  Photo:  Dave Rauenbuehler (CC license)


From CBS local news website:

‘The city attorneys of San Francisco and Oakland on Wednesday announced they are filing civil lawsuits against big oil companies for their role in damaging climate change that will impact their cities.

The city attorneys say that because of rising sea levels, the areas known as the Embarcadero on both sides of San Francisco Bay as well as the San Francisco Ferry Building and many other businesses and towers worth billions of dollars could be wiped out. They blame big oil for knowingly causing climate change.

With the back-to-back hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and now Maria hitting the Caribbean islands and the U.S., 2017 has become a record-breaking hurricane season.

The Bay Area also experienced the hottest temperatures ever on record a few weeks ago.

“The science is undeniable,” said Herrera. “Climate change is altering our planet placing communities at risk.”

Herrera, alongside Oakland’s City Attorney Barbara Parker, are filing separate lawsuits on behalf of each city against the five largest investor-owned producers of fossil fuels in the world: Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips.

“Just like Big Tobacco, Big Oil knew the truth long ago,” said Parker.

They said just like tobacco companies who were sued in the 1980s, oil companies created an ongoing so-called public nuisance that is now causing jeopardizing thousands of lives and $49 billion worth of bayside public and private property in Oakland and San Francisco.

“Fossil fuel companies were aware of these effects and continued to use profits at expense of residents,” explained Parker.

Herrera said studies show that by 2050, a 100-year flood will happen once every year. That means six percent of San Francisco will be inundated by 2100.”

See video and the full story at the CBS website HERE.