In a First, a Gas Utility Is Sued Over Global Warming Deception (New York Times)
Excerpt from this New York Times story:
Oregon officials have added the state’s largest natural gas utility as a defendant in their $50 billion lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over their contribution to climate change.
The suit — the first to make climate-related deception claims against a utility, experts said — alleges that the company, NW Natural, knew that the burning of natural gas contributed to global warming, but misled its customers about the consequences. It is an expansion of a lawsuit that was first filed last year by Multnomah County, which includes Portland.
The complaint alleges that Exxon, Shell and other companies, now including NW Natural, had schemed to “rapaciously” sell fossil fuel products and cover up what they knew about the risks to the planet, and that the companies bear responsibility for the effects of climate change including a deadly heat wave in 2021 that killed at least 69 county residents.
Experts said the addition of NW Natural to the amended lawsuit on Monday was the first instance of a gas utility being named as a plaintiff in a case like this. Overall there are about two dozen lawsuits by state and local governments alleging that oil companies covered up the dangers of climate change.
