Puerto Rico sues ConocoPhillips and other oil firms blaming them for climate change

 

 

Major oil and gas companies, including ConocoPhillips, are being sued by Puerto Rico in a lawsuit that accuses the firms over the effects of climate change.

The lawsuit seeks at least $1 billion and is the second such lawsuit by two dozen cities and counties in Puerto Rico over the past two years.

The latest suit named ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, BP P.L.C., Chevron, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Puerto Rico Core, LLC, Shell, Stations Managers of Puerto Rico, TotalEnergies and TotalEnergyies Marketing PR Corp. It was filed Monday in the Court of First Stance of San Juan and claimed the major energy firms knew their products would pollute the island and cause temperatures to warm. The suit also alleged the companies promoted oiland gas using unfair and deceptive trade practices, according to a report by E & E News.

Two years ago, major oil companies were sued by Puerto Rican cities and towns and last fall, the oil firms claimed it was “far-fetched” to hold them accountable for harms from climate change under an anti-organized crime law. They asked the lawsuit filed by 16 municipalities to be dismissed. The suit also blamed the firms for climate-related harms inccluding from the 2017 hurricane season.