1 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Drilled. I'm Amy Westervelt, and this 2 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: was a hell of a week for climate lawsuits. On Wednesday, 3 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: the state of Minnesota sued Exxon Coke Industries and the 4 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: American Petroleum Institute in a groundbreaking case alleging consumer fraud 5 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: pegged to thirty years of climate disinformation campaigns. It's a 6 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: really bold suit, taking a new approach. It's centered on 7 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: disinformation about climate change as a crime against the people 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: of Minnesota. And then the very next day, on Thursday morning, Washington, 9 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: d C. Filed its climate disinformation suit against BP, Chevron, Exon, Mobil, 10 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: and Shell. Like the Minnesota case, the DC case is 11 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: built around consumer protection law, not nuisance law, which the 12 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: majority of other climate cases are based on. That's a 13 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: really important distinction and it will be interesting to watch 14 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: what happens with both the nuisance and these consumer fraud 15 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: approaches in the months ahead. We'll have more details on 16 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: the Minnesota and DC cases for you right after this 17 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: quick message from today's sponsor. 18 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 2: We're here sing these three next cases specifically because the 19 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 2: designed conducted funding this campaign of deception, then carrying out 20 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 2: in Minnesota and violation of the law. 21 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: Okay, so that is Attorney General from the Great State 22 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, announcing a lawsuit against the American 23 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: Petroleum Institute exon Mobile and Coke Industries. This is a 24 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: really big deal, starting with the fact that none of 25 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: the other climate lawsuits have named the API and Coke, 26 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: which is interesting because those are two names that you 27 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: hear a lot when you hear about climate denial. But 28 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: this suit is squarely focused on disinformation, so it makes 29 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: a lot of sense that API and Coke would be included. Plus, 30 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: Coke does actually operate a refinery in Minnesota as well. 31 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: Coke Industries and its owners, the infamous Charles and David Coke, 32 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: were major funders of climate denial through the nineties and 33 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: two thousands, funding various front groups and think tanks and 34 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: all sorts of messaging against climate action. The API, of course, 35 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: is an organization we've covered a lot in this podcast. 36 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: They've been round for over one hundred years and have 37 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: been a key architect and funder of climate denial for decades. 38 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: Here's environmental sociologist Bob Brule talking about how much they 39 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: spent with just one PR firm, Edelman from two thousand 40 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: and eight to twenty twelve. 41 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 3: Two thousand and eight and got seventy five million dollars 42 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 3: that year, and then two thousand and nine, let's see, 43 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 3: two thousand and nine, they got sixty eight million dollars. 44 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 3: Twenty ten they got sixty three million dollars, and then 45 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 3: in twenty eleven they got sixty eight million dollars, and 46 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 3: then in twenty twelve fifty two million. 47 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: That's hundreds of millions of dollars in one contract to 48 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: one firm over just four years. Some of that money 49 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: went toward ad campaigns, some of it went to front groups, 50 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: some went to pr All of it was in the 51 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: service of promoting fossil fuels as a great and necessary 52 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: part of America, undermining anything that said otherwise, including the 53 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: science on climate change. The Minnesota case alleges that these 54 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: three broke Minnesota consumer protection laws by essentially lying to 55 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: the public about climate change. It's an interesting approach because, 56 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: unlike the fourteen climate liability cases making their way through 57 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: various state and federal courts right now, this one is 58 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,239 Speaker 1: unlikely to deal with jurisdictional issues. It's a state suit 59 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: about the violation of state laws. That makes it a 60 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: lot harder for fossil fuel defendants to remove it to 61 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: federal court, which is something they've tried to do in 62 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: all of these cases. Here's Assistant Attorney General Lee Curry 63 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: spelling it out. This book Paint does not seek to 64 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: hold these companies accountable for climate change. 65 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 3: It seeks to hold. 66 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 4: Them accountable for violating Minnesota's unction. 67 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 2: Launch. 68 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: Of course, the case also comes on the heels of 69 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: weeks worth of Black Lives Matter protests that started in 70 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: Minnesota over the police killing of George Floyd, and Ellison 71 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: and his colleagues made the connection between climate change and 72 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: racial justice. Crystal Clear. Sam Grant, the director of Minnesota 73 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: three point fifty, had this to say, we have. 74 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 2: Freedom to profit over freedom degrees. A writer that the 75 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 2: freedom degrees must come first because we have to live 76 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 2: in order for anything else to happen. 77 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: And on the first page of the complaint, in the 78 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: very first paragraph, it reads, quote warming will continue with 79 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: devastating economic and public health consequences across the state, and 80 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: in particular disproportionately impact people living in poverty and people 81 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: of color. This is the first time I've seen environmental 82 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: justice mentioned this explicitly in any of these climate cases. 83 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: So it's great to see it. And the DC case 84 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: also notes that low income communities and communities of color 85 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: and elderly communities will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. 86 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: Like the Minnesota case, it also hinges on consumer protection statutes. 87 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: Filing suit under these consumer protection laws means that Minnesota 88 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: and Washington d C. Do not have to prove they 89 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: are suffering specific climate harms like more extreme wildfires or flooding, 90 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: or rising sea levels or higher temperatures, even though of 91 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: course those things are happening. They don't have to prove it. 92 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: They don't have to prove that the fossil fuel companies 93 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: even caused it. What they do have to prove is 94 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: that the fossil field defendants lied to consumers, that they 95 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: have put out misleading information false advertising. The DC complain 96 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: also includes withholding information from the public. Here's Kate Kanopka, 97 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Public Advocacy Division 98 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: for DC. She wrote DC's climate complaint and explains how 99 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: this consumer protection statute works. Here. 100 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 4: I want to be clear that Kate has been as 101 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 4: a consumer protection case and so in fact, the harm 102 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 4: comes to consumers when they are not given full and 103 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 4: accurate information about the purchases that they are making. And 104 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,239 Speaker 4: so it's very important for us to keep in mind 105 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 4: that one, there is no requirement for us to show harm, 106 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 4: but two that really the point of the matter is 107 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 4: is that these consumers have been harmed by their failure 108 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 4: to be able to make informed purchasing decisions. Our Consumer 109 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:39,239 Speaker 4: Protection Statute is an extremely broad remedial vehicle which gives 110 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 4: us a very broad ability not only affirmativeness representations, but 111 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 4: also the company's failure to provide information that they had 112 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 4: that would have been material to purchasers purchasing decisions. 113 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: The DC complaint focuses quite a bit on the fossil 114 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: fuel companies more recent at campaigns which highlight their investments 115 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: in renewables and paint natural gas as a clean, green fuel. 116 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: I'm sure you've seen these ads or heard them in 117 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: various podcasts in recent years. Here's a small sampling. Some 118 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: farms grow food, this one gross fuel. Doers need energy, 119 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: and demand for it is expected to grow. 120 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 2: America's natural gas and oil companies are successfully meeting the 121 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 2: demand for greater energy. 122 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: On natural gas can step in to keep the power 123 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: flowing and the lights shining. The biggest natural gas booster 124 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: by far in the last decade has been the America 125 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: Petroleum Minstitute API, which is not a named defendant in 126 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: the DC suit. However, the API is mentioned in the complaint. 127 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: The DC folks take the stance that the fossil fueld 128 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: companies fund and control the API, so they hold the 129 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: companies accountable for API's actions. This could all get pretty 130 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: interesting if either of these cases makes it past the 131 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: fossil fuel company's inevitable motion to dismiss these cases. If 132 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: these cases get into discovery, I suspect we will see 133 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: quite a bit more documentation of exactly who knew what 134 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: about climate change, when they knew it, and what they 135 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: did with that information. That's it for this time. Thanks 136 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: for listening. We'll bring you updates on these and all 137 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: the other climate cases out there as they happen. You 138 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: can also read more details about both of these cases 139 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: and access the full complaints on our website drillednews dot com. 140 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: I want to take a minute and thank our latest 141 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: Patreon patrons. They are Robert April Maha, John Kendall, Zabarowski, 142 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:03,959 Speaker 1: Stacy Craig Harvey, Sally Francis, Mark Inyard, and a special 143 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: thanks to Jonathan Starr, our Big Green Energy patron. Thank 144 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: you guys so much. Your support is helping us revamp 145 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: our Climate COVID policy tracker this month because there are 146 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: more than one hundred items on there now and it's 147 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: getting really unwieldy and our to use, So we're doing 148 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: a bit of a user experience refresh on that and 149 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: we'll relaunch it in the next week or so. In 150 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: the meantime, you're also helping us continue to track all 151 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: of the policy rollbacks and big news. In the next 152 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: month or so, we'll be launching our Drilled Local Reporting Network, 153 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: bringing stories to the website and the podcast from reporters 154 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: on the frontlines in oil and gas states. So if 155 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: you've got a local climate accountability story you think we 156 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: should look into, or you know a great reporter where 157 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: you live, or you've got a tip for the tracker, 158 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 1: give us a shout at pitches at drillednews dot com. 159 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: And finally, we have a new season coming at you 160 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: in July. If you're not already a Patreon subscriber, you 161 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: might want to think about signing up. In the next month, 162 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: we're going to release all of season five at once 163 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: as a Binge listen and subscribers will get it early. 164 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: We'll have a trailer for you on that in the 165 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: next couple weeks. I'm excited for you all to hear it. Okay, 166 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: that's it for the sales pitch. Thanks again for listening, 167 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: and we'll see you next time.