"Fossil fuel firms could be tried for homicide over climate-related deaths, experts say", 21 Mar 2024

...researchers are promoting a new legal theory that says fossil fuel companies – which, data show, are the leading contributors to planet-heating pollution – could be tried for homicide for climate-related deaths.

The radical idea, first proposed last year by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen, may sound far-fetched, but it’s gaining interest from experts and public officials...

The proposal, which will soon be published in the Harvard Law Review, stems in part from the growing body of evidence that the fossil fuel industry hid information about the dangers of fossil fuel use from the public. Those revelations have inspired 40 lawsuits alleging big oil has violated tort, product liability and consumer protection laws and engaged in racketeering.

In addition to those civil lawsuits, fossil fuel companies should also face criminal charges, the researchers say...

There are a range of statutes that could criminalize fossil fuel companies’ climate conduct, the researchers say. Many of the civil claims facing oil companies, such as conspiracy and racketeering, have criminal counterparts, and other laws could be used to criminalize conduct that could inflict future harms, such as reckless endangerment. But the claim that could capture the sector’s gravest harms, the researchers say, is homicide.

Because oil companies fought to delay climate action despite knowing about global warming, there is a case to be made that they committed reckless or negligent homicide, according to Public Citizen...

The researchers note that some criminal charges can be brought even without a demonstration of causality. Pennsylvania, for instance, has a criminal statute against not only causing, but also risking, catastrophe.

Even so, there are political and cultural barriers to filing novel charges against such well-heeled companies, the researchers say. But if such criminal litigation were successful, it could have major consequences for fossil fuel companies, potentially forcing the sector to alter how it operates...