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Shouldn't the cities be suing individuals who use the fuels? The oil companies are merely manufacturing a product that can be used, it's the responsibility of e

Shouldn't the cities be suing individuals who use the fuels? The oil companies are merely manufacturing a product that can be used, it's the responsibility of end-users for the destruction they cause. The equivalent would be states suing gun companies for manufacturing handguns that are used in crimes, even though those same guns are used by police officers to uphold the law. Don't energy companies produce energy resources that help impoverished people obtain clean drinking water and protect against environmental threats?

wingspar 9y ago
Years ago governments tried suing gun manufacturers for handguns used in crimes. To my knowledge though they've never sued automakers for making get-away cars. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Lawful_Commerce_in_Arms_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Lawful_Commerc...
arethuza 9y ago
Arguably the first rule of litigation is to sue the people who have the money.
dgllghr 9y ago
At least in the case of Exxon, the company actively engaged in a misinformation campaign regarding climate change and its link to oil. This is more similar to how the tobacco companies operated in regards to cancer.
- maxlybbert 9y ago
  Interestingly, once the states started getting large payments from the tobacco company settlement, they became interested in the long-term health of those companies.
3pt14159 9y ago
No. Exxon knew what was happening since the 70s and pumped propaganda and fake research to fool the public into believing otherwise. We have governments and companies with experts to allow normal people to just live their lives. When companies act in bad faith we need to hit them hard. My main problem with capitalism is that we're not hitting the same shareholders that existed back when all these shenanigans were going on.
lallysingh 9y ago
How's that different from gas taxes?
maxlybbert 9y ago
There have been several lawsuits filed against gun companies for making legal weapons. I'm not aware of any actually ending in a judgement against the company, but I know a few have ended in settlements. It was a minor political issue when Congress gave handgun companies immunity against some of those suits when George W. Bush was president.

wingspar 9y ago

Years ago governments tried suing gun manufacturers for handguns used in crimes. To my knowledge though they've never sued automakers for making get-away cars. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Lawful_Commerce_in_Arms_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Lawful_Commerc...

arethuza 9y ago

Arguably the first rule of litigation is to sue the people who have the money.

dgllghr 9y ago

At least in the case of Exxon, the company actively engaged in a misinformation campaign regarding climate change and its link to oil. This is more similar to how the tobacco companies operated in regards to cancer.

maxlybbert 9y ago
Interestingly, once the states started getting large payments from the tobacco company settlement, they became interested in the long-term health of those companies.

3pt14159 9y ago

No. Exxon knew what was happening since the 70s and pumped propaganda and fake research to fool the public into believing otherwise. We have governments and companies with experts to allow normal people to just live their lives. When companies act in bad faith we need to hit them hard. My main problem with capitalism is that we're not hitting the same shareholders that existed back when all these shenanigans were going on.

lallysingh 9y ago

How's that different from gas taxes?

maxlybbert 9y ago

There have been several lawsuits filed against gun companies for making legal weapons. I'm not aware of any actually ending in a judgement against the company, but I know a few have ended in settlements. It was a minor political issue when Congress gave handgun companies immunity against some of those suits when George W. Bush was president.