New York City Mayor, Bill De Blasio, has committed to sue oil companies for knowing their knowledge of the effects of fossil fuels and withholding that information that lead to a great deal of damage in New York. In addition to this De Blasio vowed to divest $5 billion dollars from specific companies in the fossil fuel industry. The oil companies are ready to fight back with the notion that reducing greenhouse gas emissions has to be done globally and this lawsuit will not help fight climate change. A senior lawyer at Natural Defense Fund Council has a different opinion stating that the lawsuit is a “classic example of impact litigation that’s designed to upend the existing order”. Though these kinds of lawsuits can move slowly, victories have been seen such as the lawsuits against the tobacco companies. Additionally, Divesting has been a topic of discussion since December 2017 when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called for a halt to investments New York State has in the fossil fuel industry. Mr. De Blasio has proposed other ways to combat climate change and is looking to push for them as soon as possible.
Check out the full NY Times article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/nyregion/new-york-city-fossil-fuel-divestment.html
