New York officials call for big oil to be prosecuted for fueling climate disasters

[Passages]

Oil majors’ conduct can constitute reckless endangerment due to fossil fuels’ effect on global heating, advocates claim

Dharna Noor
Thu 17 Oct 2024 06.00 EDT

New York state prosecutors could press criminal charges against big oil for its role in fueling hurricanes and other climate disasters, lawyers wrote in a new prosecution memorandum that has been endorsed by elected officials across the state.

The 50-page document, published by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen and the progressive prosecutors' network Fair and Just Prosecution on Thursday, comes as the US south-east struggles to recover from the deadly hurricanes Helene and Milton, both of which scientists have found were exacerbated by the climate crisis. It details the havoc wrought on New York by 2021’s Hurricane Ida and 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, and other deadly climate events such as extreme heatwaves across the US this past summer.

These disasters are fueled by the climate crisis, which is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels. And a growing body of evidence shows that big oil knew about the climate dangers of its products but promoted them to the public anyway, the authors write.
“This conduct was not just amoral,” the memo says. “It was criminal.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/17/new-york-big-oil-fueling-climate-disasters

It's about time.