Taking Oil To Court
June 4, 2018 9:15 AM Subscribe
“So far, taxpayers are footing the bill without any help from corporations that have grown rich off of the fossil fuels that cause climate change ....New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration took a stab at answering that question by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. Southern District of New York against five oil companies: BP, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. “We’re taking this fight straight to the fossil fuel companies that caused this mess, and, with the lawsuit in particular, we need to recoup against the damages that have been caused...” Is Exxon Mobil the next Philip Morris?
Previously : Big Oil Has Never Been Cheaper, Let’s Buy It
Previously : Big Oil Has Never Been Cheaper, Let’s Buy It
Part of me side eyes this, because I think back to BP getting a slap on the wrist while somehow managing to fuck up even more after the oil was already fucking out. (What did they dump in the Gulf? Like several kinds of poison that meld together to create a super poison?) So I wonder if they settle for some paltry sum and then wash their hands of all culpability going forward.
And I would much rather we just take everything before breaking out our most festive guillotines.
I just don’t think there’s a legal remedy for this kind of crime.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:08 AM on June 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
And I would much rather we just take everything before breaking out our most festive guillotines.
I just don’t think there’s a legal remedy for this kind of crime.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:08 AM on June 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
Oh please yes.
posted by greermahoney at 10:09 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by greermahoney at 10:09 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Remember the deep water horizon? I was hollering for the corporate death penalty. The people involved would be put in prison, the company would be dissolved or even nationalised, and practical steps would be taken to mitigate the damage. None of that really happened, and I recall the penalties being well within the margins of just-the-cost-of-doing-business. So BP is still around.
And it reminds me of Sandy Hook. It was such a gross and appalling tragedy that surely this level of abject disaster would make us take concrete steps towards making sure it could never happen again. But we didn't.
So if Deepwater and Sandy Hook weren't big enough crimes to change anything much at all, it's difficult to imagine what would be.
posted by adept256 at 10:15 AM on June 4, 2018 [19 favorites]
And it reminds me of Sandy Hook. It was such a gross and appalling tragedy that surely this level of abject disaster would make us take concrete steps towards making sure it could never happen again. But we didn't.
So if Deepwater and Sandy Hook weren't big enough crimes to change anything much at all, it's difficult to imagine what would be.
posted by adept256 at 10:15 AM on June 4, 2018 [19 favorites]
Blaming the oil companies alone hurts my sense of fairness, but there's no way that lawsuits are going to adjust the attitude of coal rolling jackasses, so whatever.
(We all benefit and the vast majority of us have refused to adjust our lives to reduce our carbon footprint in any meaningful way, so to my mind the buyers also have some significant responsibility for the damage done by burning fossil fuels)
posted by wierdo at 11:01 AM on June 4, 2018 [5 favorites]
(We all benefit and the vast majority of us have refused to adjust our lives to reduce our carbon footprint in any meaningful way, so to my mind the buyers also have some significant responsibility for the damage done by burning fossil fuels)
posted by wierdo at 11:01 AM on June 4, 2018 [5 favorites]
That's not to say that there isn't plenty of environmental harm that can be laid directly at the feet of the oil companies! They spill toxic shit all the damn time. Their customers are a lot worse on the carbon dioxide side of things, though.
posted by wierdo at 11:03 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 11:03 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
I worked in an oil patch one summer...
We would go to an oil well, dig a hole in the ground, and then a truck would come up, attach a hose, and pump steam into the well. This would melt and force out "parafeen", which ended up in the hole we dug.
Next time we hit that well for something, after the sludge had hardened, we'd cover the hole...
posted by Windopaene at 11:22 AM on June 4, 2018
We would go to an oil well, dig a hole in the ground, and then a truck would come up, attach a hose, and pump steam into the well. This would melt and force out "parafeen", which ended up in the hole we dug.
Next time we hit that well for something, after the sludge had hardened, we'd cover the hole...
posted by Windopaene at 11:22 AM on June 4, 2018
Then they continue to deny the reality of climate change, knowing full well (because they've been studying it for decades) that they are lying. While receiving subsidies, making insane profits, and paying no taxes.
What's to like?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:25 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
What's to like?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:25 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Most of the Supermajors have been paying Louisiana Legislature to defer enforcement of the Coastal Zone Management Act for 40 years now. The state has sued to get the law enforced.
The US Supreme Court, last year, elected to avoid the case. I imagine other federal suits will go the same way.
posted by eustatic at 11:40 AM on June 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
The US Supreme Court, last year, elected to avoid the case. I imagine other federal suits will go the same way.
posted by eustatic at 11:40 AM on June 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
(We all benefit and the vast majority of us have refused to adjust our lives to reduce our carbon footprint in any meaningful way, so to my mind the buyers also have some significant responsibility for the damage done by burning fossil fuels)
Eh, you could have said the same thing for smokers in the 1970s, for instance. But Exxon Mobil has been shown to have known the effects of greenhouse gases 40 years ago and suppressed the information, so I'm inclined to say they're more responsible than Joe Commuter who's just trying to have the shortest commute possible.
posted by lunasol at 12:34 PM on June 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
Eh, you could have said the same thing for smokers in the 1970s, for instance. But Exxon Mobil has been shown to have known the effects of greenhouse gases 40 years ago and suppressed the information, so I'm inclined to say they're more responsible than Joe Commuter who's just trying to have the shortest commute possible.
posted by lunasol at 12:34 PM on June 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
Exxon Mobil has been shown to have known the effects of greenhouse gases 40 years ago and suppressed the information, so I'm inclined to say they're more responsible than Joe Commuter who's just trying to have the shortest commute possible
Peak domestic US production occurred about 50 years ago, following many, many oil towns and their people going bust with the wells they drilled (representative example).
The signs to ween ourselves off of oil have been around for more than a century, independent of climate change study.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:42 PM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Peak domestic US production occurred about 50 years ago, following many, many oil towns and their people going bust with the wells they drilled (representative example).
The signs to ween ourselves off of oil have been around for more than a century, independent of climate change study.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 2:42 PM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's not even like weaning off oil is expensive. Done right, it would actually be profitable.
posted by flabdablet at 7:56 AM on June 5, 2018
posted by flabdablet at 7:56 AM on June 5, 2018
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posted by entropicamericana at 10:00 AM on June 4, 2018 [2 favorites]