New York officials are preparing criminal charges against major oil companies for fueling the climate crisis

New York prosecutors could soon criminally charge the oil industry for its role in fueling the climate catastrophe. A prosecutor’s memorandum, supported by elected officials across New York and published by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said: “[Climate] Disasters are in large part the result of reckless behavior by large fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP, which are responsible for a significant portion of all global greenhouse gas emissions that have caused our planet to warm. … This behavior was not just amoral. It was criminal.”

Forty cities and states have filed civil lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry in recent years for causing and then covering up the climate crisis.