Opinion | It’s time for Michigan to hold Big Oil accountable

Despite decades of warnings from scientists, the world is burning more fossil fuels than ever and the atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gasses — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — reached new all-time highs last year. The consequences of all this heat are playing out around the world and right here in Michigan in the form of extreme weather.  Increasingly severe floods are creating bank-breaking damage in residents’ homes, while unprecedentedly warm winters are fundamentally altering Michigan’s culture.  

These impacts are racking up massive costs for Michigan’s taxpayers, but our communities didn’t cause climate change — Big Oil companies did. 

Fossil fuel companies have known their products would cause potentially “catastrophic” climate change since at least the 1960s. While scientists at oil companies such as Exxon were warning their executives to safeguard their own operations against sea level rise and other impacts from a warming world, the fossil fuel industry was trying to convince the public that climate change was not real. Even today, fossil fuel companies are still lying to us — this time about their commitment to climate solutions. A recent congressional investigation found that Big Oil companies have “evolved from denying climate science to spreading disinformation and perpetuating doublespeak” about their commitment to reducing emissions.

A company lying to communities about the harms of products they sell is not only morally wrong — it’s also against the law. That’s why Michiganders should support Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s plan to sue oil companies for their climate lies. In May, Nessel announced her office intends to join a growing wave of communities throughout the nation that are suing oil companies to “recoup our costs and hold those responsible for jeopardizing Michigan’s economic future and way of life accountable.”

What if these polluters had shared what they knew with Michigan residents and officials, so that we too could have taken steps to protect ourselves? Imagine the years we could have invested in preparing for the climate crisis if the oil industry chose to prioritize public safety over their corporate profits. Imagine if instead of passing the Clean Energy & Jobs Act in 2023, that Michigan had begun its clean energy transition twenty years ago, giving us time to make a just transition in communities and the workforce, and equitably site all the renewable energy we will ever need, instead of playing catchup as we barrel toward the deadline to dramatically reduce emissions in order to avert the worst of the climate crisis. It’s an alternate reality we’ll never get to know.

The lies the oil industry sold us have caused real and lasting damage to our communities, and it’s only fair that they face the evidence of their lies in a Michigan courtroom. 

When corporations break the law, it’s the attorney general’s job to hold them accountable. When opioid manufacturers lied about the addictive nature of their products, Attorney General Nessel sued them and won $1.6 billion to fund treatment options for Michigan residents. After polluters dumped forever chemicals into our communities, Nessel sued and secured clean-up efforts that are currently underway. And as she has long argued in Nessel v Enbridge, the state has an obligation to protect its people from the especially devastating impact of a catastrophic crude oil pipeline rupture into the Great Lakes. 

When it comes to the climate crisis, we need every leader using the tools at their disposal to help us make progress. I applaud Attorney General Nessel taking action to hold oil companies accountable for their climate lies — it’s the right thing to do.