New York City Hall has filed a lawsuit against oil giants ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP, accusing them of “misleading” consumers by “exaggerating clean energy investments,” according to Le Figaro.
The 97-page complaint accuses the three companies of “amplifying the positive effects on the climate” for products related to natural gas, biofuels, and hydrogen. The three giants, along with API, the powerful professional federation of the sector, are also accused of “misrepresenting” the climate impact of fossil fuels. Fighting climate change also means “fighting some of the biggest companies for false advertising and greenwashing,” Bill De Blasio the mayor of the US metropolis was quoted saying in a statement.
The city hall filed a complaint in January 2018 against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell for their responsibilities on climate change, a complaint that was rejected on appeal in early April. New York City Hall lost another lawsuit against ExxonMobil in 2019, accusing it of misleading investors after claiming to integrate the risks of tightening greenhouse gas emissions legislation into its long-term projects.