Into the courtroom

pronounced in the United States, where more than a dozen cases filed by states, cities and other parties are challenging the fossil fuel industry for its role in causing climate change and not informing the public of its harms.

Last month, both Minnesota state and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits alleging that oil majors had misled consumers on how using their products involved releasing carbon emissions and contributing to climate change.

Those cases followed another filed in October by Massachusetts, which also used consumer protection arguments in suing Exxon Mobil Corp. All three accused the oil companies of engaging in deceptive practices and false advertising.

“As awareness of climate change grew in the general public to the extent that their disinformation campaigns were no longer acceptable, there was a pivot to greenwashing,” Kate Konopka, Washington DC’s deputy attorney general, told

Reuters. In each case, most of the companies denied the allegations. BP Plc declined to comment.

Exxon said the Washington DC lawsuit was part of a “coordinated, politically motivated” campaign against energy companies and was without merit. Chevron Corp also dismissed the DC case, saying the litigation “distracts” from its efforts to address climate change.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it was “committed to playing our part” in addressing climate change, but that lawsuits “impede the collaboration needed for meaningful change.”

But companies appear to be worried.

The National Association of Manufacturers formed a group in 2017 to push back against “activist lawyers” for trying to scapegoat energy manufacturers.

The group, called the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, applauded a December ruling in New York clearing Exxon Mobil of securities fraud charges, after it was accused of failing to inform investors about what it knew about climate change.

“Courts are rejecting this misguided and misleading narrative, with a federal judge already calling them ‘hyperbolic’ last year when New York’s attorney general brought claims based on essentially the same allegations,” said Phil Goldberg, a lawyer representing the group.