ExxonMobil indicated it plans to countersue California cities and counties that want fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change-related damages. This move is a clear attempt by ExxonMobil to intimidate those seeking to protect their communities and hold major fossil fuel companies accountable for their outsized contribution to climate harms, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Below is a statement by Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at UCS.

“Across California, cities and counties facing mounting costs from climate damages are rightly asking fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share. ExxonMobil’s strategy to intimidate these communities by threatening lawsuits is just another effort to evade accountability for its decades-long campaign to deceive the public about climate science and block policies that could have limited the climate impacts that California residents are now facing.

“Rather than bully communities trying to protect themselves, ExxonMobil should direct its vast resources to help fix the problem—and accept responsibility for the damages their products have caused.”