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Not that long ago it would have been unthinkable for Delaware to file a lawsuit against big oil.
After all, a number of the corporations named in the recently filed suit are incorporated in Delaware. The predecessor of one company named in the suit, ConocoPhillips, was owned by DuPont.
None of this stopped Attorney General Kathy Jennings from moving against ExxonMobil Chevron, BP, American Petroleum Institute, and more than two dozen other fossil fuel defendants.
In a departure from the practice of suits led by big states, with smaller fry signing on, Delaware is by itself in this instance.
The 218-page document charges the companies are guilty of Consumer Fraud Act violations and not acting on internal studies that showed the risks of global warming.
Delaware, the nation’s lowest-lying state, remains vulnerable to rising sea levels that can affect beach areas and even raise the level of the Delaware River.
By filing the suit, Jennings puts the AG’s office in the environmental justice arena. The growing movement focuses on many low-income communities and their proximity to low-lying areas and pollution.
Not everyone agrees and the First State has its share of climate change skeptics.
Meanwhile, big oil has been hammered by the pandemic and concerns over global warming.
Industry behemoth, ExxonMobil, recently exited the Dow Jones index of 30 stocks, although smaller Chevron remains on the index. Once the largest company in the world in terms of stock market value, ExxonMobil barely makes the top 40 after doubling down on oil production.
Apple is now in first place. In this upside-down world, electric car maker Tesla ranks 10th
Jennings and the state Department of Justice faces a tough battle in making a case. But big oil is not quite as formidable as it used to be. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
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