Sacramento [US], September 18: The U.S. state of California is going after some of the world's largest oil companies, with lawsuit and legislation to hold them accountable for the damage caused by climate change-induced storms and wildfires, officials said Saturday.
In the past week, California, the largest economy in the United States, sued five major oil companies for covering up climate risks caused by fossil fuels and passed a legislation to require companies that operate in the state and make over 1 billion U.S. dollars annually to disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday against oil companies Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP, as well as their trade group, the American Petroleum Institute (API).
The complaint said the defendants had created a public nuisance, damaged natural resources and state property, and violated California law by misleading state residents with false advertising and misleading environmental marketing.
Source: Xinhua