Should corporations be allowed to deceive Marylanders about their dangerous products and then make our communities pay the bill for the damages they cause?
That is an essential question at the heart of court cases that Annapolis, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City have brought against major fossil fuel companies. Evidence shows that oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell knew decades ago that their polluting products would fuel the rising seas, deadly floods and other extreme weather events that are hitting Marylanders’ neighborhoods, businesses and livelihoods harder and more frequently every year.
Did they warn Marylanders about the threat? No. In fact, like tobacco executives who lied about the link between smoking and cancer, leaders in the fossil fuel industry conspired to mislead the public about the reality of climate change. This deception robbed us of valuable decades when action could have been taken sooner. Imagine how much more progress could have been made to secure cheaper and cleaner energy if these giant polluters had not fought so hard to keep us hooked on their dirty products. Now the local costs of fossil-fueled climate change are falling on our residents while the corporations that imposed them on us pay nothing.
The Maryland Supreme Court is considering whether our communities should have their day in court to make these companies pay for the damage they have caused. Courts in other states — including the Supreme Courts of Colorado and Hawaii — have agreed that similar lawsuits can advance toward trial. It would be a tragedy if Maryland’s highest court became the first to bar the courthouse doors to communities seeking climate accountability.
When Exxon scientists studied what would happen if the world kept using fossil fuels, they concluded in 1982 that “there are some potentially catastrophic events that must be considered,” warning company executives that those disasters could include “a rise in sea level on the order of 5 meters” which “would cause flooding on much of the U.S. East Coast.” But just six years later, Exxon leaders told employees that the company’s public position was to “emphasize the uncertainty” of climate science. A congressional investigation later concluded that Big Oil companies have engaged in a long-running disinformation campaign to protect their “record profits at the expense of American consumers.”
Now the downstream effects of climate change are raising the cost of living for all of us in the form of higher infrastructure costs, insurance rates, lost business and more. Anne Arundel County is forecast to see sea levels rise five feet or more in the coming decades, putting vital infrastructure and thousands of residents, homes, and properties in harm’s way.
When a flood wipes away a bridge or a road, our taxpayers are the ones footing the bill to rebuild and protect ourselves against the next disaster. Resilience projects to protect the Annapolis City Dock and other vulnerable properties are projected in the tens of millions. Mounting public health threats from extreme heat and other disasters often put seniors, low-income communities, and communities of color most at risk.
As a legislator, I have an obligation to support efforts that will reduce costs for the people I represent. The court actions brought by Maryland communities against fossil fuel companies are just and appropriate, and I hope the state supreme court agrees. My grandchildren know that they’re supposed to tell the truth and clean up their mess. Why can’t Big Oil companies do the same? Our communities deserve their day in court, and fossil fuel companies need to pay for the damage they’ve caused.
Pamela Beidle is a Democratic state senator representing District 32 in Anne Arundel County.
