Big Oil Lied-About Big Plastic - Climate Crisis 247

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According to recent articles in the press, Big Oil lied about the effects of big oil on the environment. Industry executives knew, as early as the 1950s, that fossil fuels caused global warming, according to research the press has uncovered. In part, this information is being used for lawsuits against Big Oil in California and Chicago. The cases resemble those filed against Big Tobacco a generation ago. Big Tobacco lied about what it knew about the harms of smoking. Big Tobacco lost those suits and paid settlements in the billions of dollars.

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The lies of Big Oil may have spread further than those about fossil fuel damage. A new study from the Center for Climate Integrity, titled “Not just climate: Big Oil lied about plastic recycling, too, and must be held accountable.” If the study is accurate, it means more lawsuits by cities, states, and perhaps the federal government.

At the heart of the study–“Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies have used the false promise of plastic recycling to exponentially increase virgin plastic production over the last six decades, creating and perpetuating the global plastic waste crisis and imposing significant costs on communities that are left to pay for the consequences.” As is the case with lawsuits about the damage done by fossil fuels, the difficulty is how the damages get proven. With tobacco, there were rows after rows of gravestones of those who had died of heart disease, lung cancer, and other diseases tied directly to smoking. The guilt about fossil fuels and plastics may be more complex to prove directly.

The lawsuits will continue, whatever the early outcome of these suits, particularly those in California and Chicago. Center for Climate Integrity research will not be the last word. That means Big Oil will have a lot to defend.