ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 9, 2020
Charleston, S.C., is now the first city in the American South to sue major oil companies in an attempt to hold them accountable for the “daunting” costs of climate change, city officials announced Wednesday. The 24 defendants in the city’s lawsuit in state court include multinational corporations BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as regional companies. The suit alleges these companies lied to the public by concealing the threats fossil fuels pose to the planet. Mayor John Tecklenburg said the city could need “hundreds of millions, or billions” of dollars to address the environmental changes.