Bill Text: HI SR131 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requesting The Attorney General To File A Lawsuit Against Big Oil Corporations For Climate Damages To The State And Engage A Third-party Law Firm That Has Expertise In This Legal Area.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Referred to AEN, JDC. [SR131 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SR131-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
131 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO FILE A lawsuit against BIG OIL CORPORATIONS FOR CLIMATE DAMAGES TO THE STATE and ENGAGe A THIRD-PARTY LAW FIRM THAT HAS EXPERTISE IN THIS LEGAL AREA.
WHEREAS, big oil companies often engage in practices to purposefully deceive the public about their negative environmental impact to further their business objectives and profits; and
WHEREAS, according to the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, big oil companies such as BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Total Energies jointly account for nearly twenty-three percent of the cumulative global carbon footprint of the oil refining sector, which reflects a significant market concentration; and
WHEREAS, this enormous carbon footprint, or calculated amount of greenhouse gas emissions that an activity, person, country, or company adds to the atmosphere irrefutably leads to global warming and climate change; and
WHEREAS, climate change has burdened the State with enormous costs to fix severe damages to state infrastructure due to sea level rise and state marine resources due to ocean acidification and warming; and
WHEREAS, climate change has resulted in further costs to the State for the need to air condition schools, libraries, and other state buildings or recover from more frequent and intense environmental disasters; and
WHEREAS, in October 2023, the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected claims made by defendants in a City and County of Honolulu lawsuit that big oil and gas companies do not fall within state court jurisdiction and that there is no public nuisance claim for a climate damages case under Hawaii law; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu and Maui County's current lawsuits against big oil companies are limited to the costs to those counties and do not address climate change costs to the State; and
WHEREAS, currently, nine other state attorney generals have filed similar lawsuits against big oil companies in the United States; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Attorney General is requested to file a lawsuit against big oil corporations for climate damages to the State and engage a third-party law firm that has expertise in this legal area; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Attorney General.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Attorney General; Climate Damages; Big Oil; Lawsuit
