A district in the US state of Oregon has filed a lawsuit against 17 companies, including oil giants BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil. Multnomah County, which also includes the city of Portland, is demanding a total of $ 51 billion (about 46.5 billion euros) from the group of companies.
Multnomah County claims that the CO2 emissions from these companies are partly responsible for the unprecedented heat wave in the summer of 2021. During that period, part of the US and Canadian west coast was hit by the so-called ‘heat dome’, causing temperatures in some places to rise. almost fifty degrees Celsius. 69 people lost their lives.
“The heat wave was a direct and foreseeable result of the defendants trying to sell as many fossil fuel products as possible over the past six decades,” the indictment said.
The district is demanding 50 billion dollars (more than 45.6 billion euros) for the damage suffered in 2021 and 1.5 billion dollars (about 1.3 billion euros) for the expected future damage as a result of the climate crisis. In addition, the district wants the seventeen companies to pay an additional $ 50 billion to improve health care, so that it can better deal with the consequences of extreme heat and other storms.
Earlier this week, another climate case was closed in Montana, in which sixteen young people had taken this American state to court for violating their right to a clean and healthy living environment. A court ruling is expected within a few weeks.
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