Oregon County Sues Oil, Gas Corporations for Billions Over Deadly Climate Change Heat

Oregon’s Multnomah County on Thursday sued 17 major oil and gas companies over a deadly 2021 heatwave that killed dozens of people amid the growing climate crisis, officials reported.

The defendants — including Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Koch Industries and the American Petroleum Institute — should be "held accountable" for fossil fuels' link to climate change that results in weather disasters, charges the lawsuit, which was filed in an Oregon state circuit court in Portland.

Record-shattering temperatures of up to 116 degrees created a "heat dome" over the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 which was blamed for the deaths of 69 people in the county and hundreds of others in the region.

Hundreds of others died across the region, making the heat dome one of the major weather disasters in American history.

The lawsuit cites research linking the scorching heat to the climate crisis created by fossil fuels.

“The heat dome that cost so much life and loss was not a natural weather event," the lawsuit states.

“Rather, the heat dome was a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ decision to sell as many fossil fuel products over the last six decades as they could," it adds.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants committed negligence and fraud, and created a public nuisance, all of which are causes of action under Oregon state tort law.

The county seeks $50 million in damages for the deadly heat dome, as well as $1.5 billion for future climate damages.

In addition, it calls on the defendants to spend an additional $50 billion on a county plan to upgrade public healthcare services and infrastructure to protect residents from coming extreme heat events and other climate disasters.

The legal action comes amid a wave of similar suits against fossil fuel companies.

Since 2017, seven states, 35 cities, the District of Columbia, and one industry trade association have sued major oil and gas corporations and lobbying groups, alleging that defendants have known for decades about the dangers of fossil fuels' links to climate change, and yet actively hid that information from consumers and investors.

Lawyers for the companies sued by Multnomah County could not immediately be reached for comment.