California's Big Oil Lawsuit Strategy Mirrors Fight Against Big Tobacco
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 19 September 2023
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
The charge is that oil companies knew they were causing climate change, and lied to cover it up. And now, California is suing for damages.
The state is suing to force fossil fuel companies to help fund recovery efforts related to California's extreme weather related events — floods, fire, dangerous heat --which have been made more common and intense by climate change.
Back in the 1990s, states across the country sued tobacco companies - demanding that they be compensated for healthcare costs associated with treating people for smoking-related illnesses.
It was a long and complicated process, but states won more than $360 billion. The victory brought a big change to the tobacco industry, forcing companies to accurately label cigarettes as potentially lethal, and limiting where and how cigarettes could be marketed.
Host Ailsa Chang speaks with Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity on the ramifications of the climate lawsuit.
A previous version of this episode did not include a statement from the American Petroleum Institute responding to Richard Wiles' comments.
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Transcript
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| 0:23.1 | The state of California has filed a massive lawsuit against oil companies. |
| 0:28.5 | Their argument that big oil knew they were causing climate change and they lied to cover it up. |
| 0:35.9 | Now, California is suing for damages and the suit demands that these fossil fuel companies |
| 0:40.9 | help fund recovery efforts related to California's extreme weather events, which have been made |
| 0:46.1 | more common, intense, and damaging by climate change. We start an eye tracking extreme heat. |
| 0:52.1 | Take a look at this. Consumption is fire battled. California slammed with a tropical storm. |
| 0:56.2 | The first move across the region since 1997. A wildfire causing evacuations in El Dorado County, |
| 1:03.4 | right? This lawsuit could have huge implications for the oil industry and for communities trying |
| 1:09.0 | to deal with the impacts of climate change. And it's not the first time we've seen an argument |
| 1:15.3 | like this. In the 1990s, states across the country began to sue big tobacco companies, |
| 1:22.6 | demanding that they be compensated for the health care costs brought on by smoking-related illnesses. |
| 1:29.2 | A group of attorneys general negotiated a $368 billion agreement with the four largest |
| 1:35.4 | tobacco companies that settled dozens of lawsuits. The settlement mandated accurate labeling of |
| 1:41.5 | cigarettes as potentially lethal and limited where and how cigarettes could be marketed. |
| 1:48.0 | We are here today to announce what we think is we know we believe is the most historic |
| 1:56.7 | public health achievement in history. The purpose of us coming today is to tell you that we have |
| 2:03.7 | reached agreement in principle with the tobacco industry. This strategy to link the deception of |
| 2:12.1 | tobacco companies directly with the financial burden placed on state governments and individuals |
| 2:18.1 | worked. And it's an argument that's very similar to the one that California is now leveling |
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