Richard Borreca: Big questions being raised about Big Oil

Admit it: There are among you both naysayers and cynics. There are those of you who just look questioningly at politicians’ public statements and say, “Who is doing your thinking, because you sure aren’t doing it.”

So last week when Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Councilmen Ron Menor and Joey Manahan announced they want the city to bring suit “against the fossil fuel companies because they can and should be held legally responsible for the climate change crisis we are facing,” there were no reports of spontaneous or joyous dancing in the street.

The threat to crack down on Big Oil and its conspiracy to keep us in the dark about global warming failed to register any changes.

The local reality of global warming, however, is already being tallied. The city and state haven’t really gotten around to any major realignments because of global warming, sea level rise and dramatic changes in rainfall, but the budget folks are warming up their calculators.

Pointing to a new state report, Caldwell noted “3.2 feet of sea level rise will impact 3,880 structures and 13,300 residents, resulting in $12.9 billion of loss and damage to private property alone.”

The oil companies should pay, Caldwell said, because “They knew about the impacts, they had studies done, they had evidence that what they were doing in terms of producing oil and emitting fluorocarbons … They knew, and then they covered it up by putting out disinformation so that action would not be taken.”

Honolulu is joined by Maui County in exploring a lawsuit but we aren’t the first. Attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands also are looking to see if Exxon knew about the risks of climate change and that investors would be hurt by climate change.

Big Oil hit the “all hands on deck” button and is resisting with a furious counterattack in the courts.

And at the same time, the environmental attorneys are looking for a green future and some greenbacks and at least one major firm is making a living by representing governments that claim to be harmed by global warming.

Caldwell is suggesting the city use Sher Edling LLP out of San Francisco to handle the case in exchange for a piece of damages collected. The firm already represents the state of Rhode Island, as well as Baltimore, San Francisco, Oakland and several other West Coast cities.

Last month, Massachusetts notified Exxon it was bringing consumer protection charges against the oil giant for consumer protection violations regarding deceptive practices in selling gasoline. Meanwhile, New York’s case against Exxon goes to trial this winter.

Once when the public sued tobacco companies, they were met with jeers and questions. That isn’t the case now.

Sure, we are cynical enough to say climate change is not an unknown event and that the heat-trapping properties of carbon dioxide were not discovered just last year. The local consequences of devastating floods, abnormal sea changes and the rerouting of Hawaii’s trade winds are bigger problems than almost anyone has imagined.

If Big Oil knew about it and said nothing, how close does that come to Big Tobacco telling smokers that a filter makes your cigarette safe?

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.