"‘They lied to all of us’: Big Oil hit with climate change lawsuit from suburban Philadelphia county," 27 March 2024

A... Philadelphia county has joined dozens of other local governments around the country in suing the oil industry, asserting that major oil producers systematically deceived the public about their role in accelerating global warming.

Bucks County’s lawsuit against a half dozen oil companies blames the oil industry for more frequent and intense storms... flooding, saltwater intrusion, extreme heat “and other devastating climate change impacts” from the burning of fossil fuels. The county wants oil producers to pay to mitigate the damage caused by climate change. ...

The suit named as defendants BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Philips 66, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group.

Chevron said through its attorney, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., that “addressing climate change requires a coordinated international policy response, not meritless local litigation over lawful and essential energy production.”

API said in response that the industry provides “affordable, reliable energy energy to U.S. consumers” while taking steps over the past two decades to reduce emissions. It said climate change policy is the responsibility of Congress, not local governments and courts. ...