In September,  California issued a lawsuit charging numerous oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute for intentionally spreading misinformation and delaying action on climate. The lawsuit details behavior by companies to protect their business interests regardless of the damage caused. This is not the first such lawsuit, but may be the most important. SOURCE

Allegations in the California lawsuit:

• …climate change is the product of widespread combustion of fossil fuels. Oil and gas company executives have known for decades that reliance on fossil fuels would cause these catastrophic results, but they suppressed that information from the public and policymakers by actively pushing out disinformation on the topic. Their deception caused a delayed societal response to global warming.

• Defendants are large companies in the fossil fuel industry who have misled consumers and the public about climate change for decades. Defendants have known since at least the 1960s that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution that would warm the planet and change our climate. Defendants’ own scientists knew as early as the 1950s that these climate impacts would be catastrophic, and that there was only a narrow window of time in which communities and governments could take action before the consequences became catastrophic.

• Rather than warn consumers, the public, and governments, however, Defendants mounted a disinformation campaign beginning at least as early as the 1970s to discredit the burgeoning scientific consensus on climate change;

We have seen a similar situation before. Tobacco companies denied the deadly consequences of their products. They even said smoking was healthy.

Big tobacco gave millions to organizations, including Canada’s Fraser Institute, to reassure smokers that science was wrong and continued use was harmless.

Big oil has paid hundreds of millions to climate change deniers. Because of indisputable science, the industry is now changing strategy, but maintaining the same goal of reaping profits regardless of damage to Earth.

Recently, people in Canada, the Midwest, and on the East Coast experienced record-breaking wildfire-related pollution the same month that scientists warned that the world is emitting greenhouse gas emissions at an all-time high. Climate change is here, and the fossil fuel industry knows it’s undeniable. So it’s switching up its playbook: by moving from denying climate change outright to delaying climate action through various forms of distraction, deceit, and false promises.

For Big Oil and Gas, Greenwashing is the New Climate Denial

An article by Damian Carrington of The Guardian demonstrates the importance of prompt action to deal with climate change.

Global temperatures soared to a new record in September by a huge margin, stunning scientists and leading one to describe it as “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas”.

The hottest September on record follows the hottest August and hottest July, with the latter being the hottest month ever recorded. The high temperatures have driven heatwaves and wildfires across the world.

September 2023 beat the previous record for that month by 0.5C, the largest jump in temperature ever seen. September was about 1.8C warmer than pre-industrial levels. Datasets from European and Japanese scientists confirm the leap.

‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat

Dr. Stefan Stefan Rahmstorf is a German oceanographer and climatologist. Since 2000, he has been a Professor of Physics of the Oceans at Potsdam University and head of Earth System Analysis at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Despite all the warning signs, production of Canadian oil is forecast by Deloitte Canada’s national Oil, Gas & Chemicals leader to increase by about 375,000 barrels a day over the next two years. He said, “That’s more than the total amount added over the last five years.”