There are ways to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate crisis—or at least nudge them in the right direction—in addition to government regulation. One avenue, which dozens of cities, counties and states across the United States and its territories are pursuing, is to sue them in state court for fraud and damages. Chicago and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, some 30 miles north of Philadelphia, are the most recent municipalities to file such a lawsuit. The defendants in both cases include BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Philips 66 and Shell, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s biggest trade association.
Another approach is to transform the companies from the inside via shareholder pressure.
Mid-April marks the beginning of proxy season, when publicly traded corporations hold their required annual meetings,…
Read the full article originally published at blog.ucsusa.org.