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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
URGING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REJECT LEGAL IMMUNITY FOR BIG OIL AND FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES
WHEREAS, Chicago, Illinois, and communities across the country are taking Big Oil companies to court for lying to the public about their products harming the planet; and
WHEREAS, evidence from internal documents, independent investigations and scientific studies confirm the fossil fuel industry understood the link between burning fossil fuels and climate change from at least the 1960's; and
WHEREAS, a 2024 joint investigation by Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, entitled "Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil's Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change," revealed fossil fuel companies worked for decades to undermine public understanding, explicitly deny basic science principles underlying climate change, and then developed a campaign of deception and disinformation; and
WHERE AS, the fossil fuel industry is lobbying Congress to issue a federal legal liability waiver that will stop local governments from holding them accountable; and
WHEREAS, the American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas trade association in the country and a defendant in Chicago's climate accountability lawsuit, has publicly announced that stopping "state climate lawsuits" against fossil fuel companies is a top priority for the industry; and
WHEREAS, if the fossil fuel industry persuades Congress to pass legislation granting it sweeping immunity from climate litigation, it will deny states, cities, and communities access to the court system seeking redress for climate-related harms; and
WHEREAS, U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) recently announced she is working with House and Senate colleagues to craft federal legislation aimed at "tackling" climate accountability lawsuits and climate superfund bills; and
WHEREAS, Rep. Hageman's comments follow a letter last year from a group of Republican attorneys general urg...
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