In a new prosecution memorandum, lawyers have written that prosecutors in Arizona could reasonably press homicide charges against big oil for deaths caused by a July 2023 heatwave.
According to the document, “[T]he case for prosecuting fossil fuel companies for climate-related deaths is strong enough to merit the initiation of investigations by state and local prosecutors,”.
Published by the consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen on Wednesday, the memo concludes that the state could pursue reckless manslaughter or second-degree murder claims for the extreme weather event that killed hundreds of residents and which climate scientists found would have been “virtually impossible” but for the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
The memo’s authors wrote that Victims of the heatwave were diverse.
“Some were homeless, like the man who died after breaking both legs jumping over a fence in a desperate attempt to find shade outside an elementary school; others were well off, like the woman who died in her $1 million home in Scottsdale,” the memo says, adding that while some victims were older and had pre-existing health conditions, the authors write, others were young and healthy.
The research comes as Arizona and many other US states have broiled under extreme temperatures this month.
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“As Americans reeled from another lethal heatwave last week, it’s important to remember that these climate disasters didn’t come out of nowhere,” said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen’s climate program and co-author of the report. “They were knowingly caused by fossil fuel companies that chose to inflict this suffering to maintain their profits.”
Forty cities and states have sued major oil companies in recent years for their role in the climate crisis and in sowing climate doubt. Each of those existing cases is based on civil charges such as tort law and racketeering protections.
Recall that last year, Public Citizen proposed also filing criminal charges – most notably, homicide – against the companies. The scheme may seem radical, and experts say filing such litigation would be an uphill battle. But the idea has sparked curiosity among experts and public officials and won support from likely voters.
The prosecution memo marks a step toward putting the legal theory into action.
“Although civil remedies are of course vital, sometimes only our criminal laws can measure up to the harm someone has inflicted,” said Cindy Cho, a former federal prosecutor of over a decade and co-author of the memo. “If human-generated climate change is killing people, and the organizations that generated it knew the risks, then it stands to reason that criminal charges may be exactly what society expects.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
