As State and Local Governments Face Budget-Busting Costs from Climate Change, Lawsuits Seek to Ease Burden on Taxpayers
As damage from climate change exceeds 3% of U.S. GDP, seeking compensation from industry driving the crisis is a vital tool for governments and individuals
WASHINGTON — As climate change destabilizes insurance markets across the country, boosting insurance premiums and foisting extra costs on state and local governments, these governments are pushing for accountability via lawsuits seeking to force fossil fuel companies to pay some of the damages caused by their products, according to testimony today before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
“States and local governments have ample reason to hold Big Oil accountable in court for deceiving the public about climate change,” said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “We are sleepwalking toward this disaster, with ordinary Americans and state and local governments bearing most of the costs. And the oil industry has known for decades that its business model would cause catastrophic harm.”
Since 2017, insurance premiums have more than doubled across the U.S., and spending to recover from climate disasters has grown to exceed 3% of U.S. annual GDP. Between 2011 and 2024, 99.5% of congressional districts experienced at least one federally declared major disaster due to extreme weather, affecting communities across political, urban-rural, and socioeconomic lines. These events, fueled by climate change, cost taxpayers $117.9 billion in federal relief.
A series of memos from the fossil fuel industry have demonstrated the industry recognized there was “scientific consensus” on the fundamentals of climate science in the 1970s and 1980s. The industry predicted that climate change from burning fossil fuels would have “serious consequences for man’s comfort and survival,” causing “suffering and death due to thermal extremes.”
Rather than alert the public or policymakers to the danger of burning fossil fuels, the industry has engaged in a decades-long campaign of deception about climate science and climate solutions.
“State and local governments are suing Big Oil to make it pay for a fraction of the colossal, budget-busting costs it has chosen to impose on them and their citizens, while profiting lavishly and lying about the harm it was causing,” said Arkush. “The ability of state and local governments to cover rising costs due to climate change will face an increasing strain in the years to come. Lawsuits that force fossil fuel companies to pay a fraction of the damages they’ve caused are a critical pathway to protect American families and state and local budgets.”
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