Homeowners Sue Oil Companies as Climate Damage Drives up Insurance Rates - Inside Climate News
Homeowners in Washington state are suing oil companies, alleging climate change deception led to soaring insurance costs.Summary
Two Washington state homeowners are suing major oil and gas companies, arguing that the companies’ deceptive practices regarding the impact of fossil fuels on climate change have contributed to a crisis in homeowners’ insurance. Premiums have risen sharply – by 51% in Washington state over six years, and doubled for the plaintiffs since 2017 – as climate-related disasters increase in frequency and severity. The lawsuit, Kennedy v. Exxon et al., alleges violations of RICO and state laws, including fraudulent misrepresentation and civil conspiracy, and seeks to hold the oil companies accountable for the increased insurance premiums.
The suit names ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) as defendants, citing their collective profits of $2.4 trillion since 1990. API dismissed the lawsuit as “baseless,” while other companies did not respond to requests for comment. The plaintiffs’ law firm, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, previously litigated against the tobacco industry, drawing parallels between the deceptive tactics employed by both industries.
Experts note the challenges in quantifying the link between climate deception and physical impacts, but emphasize that climate change is demonstrably increasing insurance costs. The case is part of a growing wave of climate accountability lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, with the U.S. Supreme Court potentially weighing in on a related case that could have broad implications for these legal challenges.
(Source：Inside Climate News)