Application — BP P.L.C., et al., Applicants v. Rhode Island

Supreme Court briefOct 7, 2019

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Attachment A

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

Envelope: 1610605

Reviewer: Alexa G.

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

PROVIDENCE, SC.

SUPERIOR COURT

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Plaintiff,

Case Number:

vs.

CHEVRON CORP.;

CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.;

EXXONMOBIL CORP.;

BP P.L.C.;

BP AMERICA, INC.;

BP PRODUCTS NORTH AMEIUCA, INC.;

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC;

MOTIVA ENTERPRISES, LLC;

SHELL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY LLC;

CITGO PETROLEUM CORP.;

CONOCOPHILLIPS;

CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY;

PHILLIPS 66;

MARATHON OIL COMPANY;

MARATHON OIL CORPORATION;

MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP.;

MARATHON PETROLEUM COMPANY LP;

SPEEDWAY LLC;

HESS CORP.;

LUKOIL PAN AMERICAS, LLC;

GETTY PETROLEUM MARKETING, INC.; AND

DOES 1 through 100, inclusive,

Defendants.

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

Envelope: 1610605

Reviewer: Alexa G.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1

II.

PARTIES ........................................................................................................................... S

Plaintiff ...................................................................................................................... 5

Defendants ................................................................................................................. 7

III.

AGENCY ......................................................................................................................... 27

IV.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE...................................................................................... 27

FACTUAL BACKGROUND......................................................................................... 27

Global Wanning-Observed Effects and Known Cause......................................... 27

Sea Level Rise-Known Causes and Observed Effects .......................................... 33

Warming Air Temperatures-Known Causes and Observed Effects...................... 38

Disruption to the Hydrologic Cycle-Known Causes and Observed Effects ......... 41

Extreme Precipitation...................................................................................... 43

ii.

Drought ........................................................................................................... 44

Ocean Warming and Acidification-Known Causes and Observed Effects........... 45

Public Health Impacts of Anthropogenic Global Wanning ..................................... 46

Attribution................................................................................................................ 47

Defendants Went to Great Lengths to Understand the Hazards Associated with, and

Knew or Should Have Known of the Dangers Associated with the Extraction,

Promotion, and Sale of Their Fossil Fuel Products. ................................................ 50

Defendants Did Not Disclose Known Harms Associated with the Extraction,

Promotion, and Consumption of Their Fossil Fuel Products, and Instead

Affirmatively Acted to Obscure Those Harms and Engaged in a Concerted

Campaign to Evade Regulation. .............................................................................. 70

In Contrast to Their Public Statements, Defendants' Intemal Actions Demonstrate

Their Awareness of and Intent to Profit from the Unabated Use of Fossil Fuel

Products.................................................................................................................... 87

Defendants' Actions Prevented the Development of Alternatives That Would Have

Eased the Transition to a Less Fossil Fuel Dependent Economy. ........................... 89

Defendants Caused Rhode Island's Injuries. ........................................................... 97

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

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Reviewer: Alexa G.

VI.

CAUSES OF ACTION ................................................................................................. 115

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION ......................................................................................... 115

Public Nuisance .............................................................................................................. 115

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION .................................................................................... 120

Strict Liability for Failure to Warn ................. ................................................................ 120

TlIIRD CAUSE OF ACTION ........................................................................................ 123

Strict Liability for Design Defect ................................................................................... 123

FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION .................................................................................... 128

Negligent Design Defect ................................................................................................. 128

FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION ......................................................................................... 131

Negligent Failure to Warn .............................................................................................. 131

SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION ........................................................................................ 133

Trespass........................................................................................................................... 133

SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION .................................................................................. 135

Impairment of Public Trust Resources ........................................................................... 135

EIGHTH CAUSE OF ACTION ..................................................................................... 138

State Environmental Rights Act, Equitable Relief Action.............................................. 138

VII.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF .............................................................................................. 140

REQUEST FOR JURY TRIAL............................................................................................... 141

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

Envelope: 1610605

Reviewer: Alexa G.

PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT

INTRODUCTION

Defendants, major corporate members of the fossil fuel industry, have known for

nearly a half century that unrestricted production and use of their fossil fuel products create

greenhouse gas pollution that warms the planet and changes our climate. They have lmown for

decades that those impacts could be catastrophic and that only a narrow window existed to take

actjon before the consequences would be iiTeversible. They have nevertheless engaged in a

coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those threats, discredit

the growing body of publicly available scientific evidence, and persistently create doubt in the

minds of customers, consumers, regulators, the media, journalists, teachers, and the public about

the reality and consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel pollution. At the same time,

Defendants have promoted and profited from a massive increase in the extraction and consumption

of oil, coal, and natural gas, which has in turn caused an enormous, foreseeable, and avoidable

increase in global greenhouse gas pollution and a concordant increase in the concentration I of

greenhouse gases, 1 particularly carbon dioxide ("CO2 ") and methane, in the Earth's atmosphere.

Those disruptions of the Earth's otherwise balanced carbon cycle have substantially contTibuted

to a wide range of dire clhnate-related effects, including, but not limited to, global warming, rising

atmospheric and ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, melting polar ice caps and glaciers, more

extreme and volatile weather, drought, and sea level rise. Plaintiff, the State of Rhode Island,2

and natural resources, suffer the consequences.

along with the State's citizens, inrastructure,

1 As used in this Complaint, "greenhouse gases" refers collectively to carbon dioxide, methane,

and nitrous oxide. Where a source refers to a specific gas or gases, or when a process relates only

to a specific gas or gases, this Complaint refers to them by name.

As used in this Complaint when referring to geographic locations, "Rhode Island" and "State"

refer to all non-federal lands within the geographic boundaries of the State of Rhode Island.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Defendants are vertically integrated extractors, producers, refiners, manufacturers,

distributors, promoters, marketers, and sellers of fossil fuel products. Decades of scientific

research show that pollution from the production and use of Defendants' fossil fuel products plays

a direct and substantial role in the unprecedented rise in emissions of greenhouse gas pollution and

increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations since the mid-20th century. This dramatic increase in

atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases is the main driver of the gravely dangerous changes

occurring to the global climate.

Anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas pollution, primarily in the form of

CO2, is far and away the dominant cause of global warming, and results in severe impacts

including, but not limited to, sea level rise, disruption to the hydrologic cycle, more :frequent and

more intense drought, more frequent and more extreme precipitation, more frequent and more

intense heatwaves, and associated consequences of those physical and environmental changes.3

The primary source of this pollution is the extraction, production, and consumption of coal, oil,

and natural gas, refened to collectively in this Complaint as "fossil fuel products."4

The rate at which Defendants have extracted and sold fossil fuel products has

exploded since the Second World War, as have emissions from those products. The substantial

majority of all greenhouse gas emissions in history has occurred since the 1950s, a period known

3 See IPCC, Clim,ate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, Contribution of Working Groups I, II and

III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core

Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland (2014), 6,

Figure SMP.3, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr.

See C. Le Quere et al., Global Carbon Budget 2016, EARTH SYST. SCI. DATA 8, 632 (2016),

http://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/605/2016. Cumulative emissions since the beginning of the

industrial revolution to 2015 were 413 gigatons of carbon ("GtC") attributable to fossil fuels, and

190 GtC attributable to land use change. Id Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry

remained nearly constant at 9.9 GtC in 2015, distributed among coal (41 %), oil (34 %), gas

(19 %), cement (5.6 %), and gas flaring (0.7 %). Id. at 629.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

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Reviewer: Alexa G.

as the "Great Acceleration."5 About three quarters of all industrial CO2 emissions in history have

occurred since the 1 960s, 6 and more than half have occurred since the late 1980s. 7 The annual rate

of CO2 emissions from extraction, production, and consumption of fossil fuels has increased by

more than 60% since 1 990. 8

Defendants have known for nearly 50 years that greenhouse gas pollution from their

fossil fuel products has a significant impact on the Earth's climate and sea levels. Defendants'

awareness of the negative implications of their own behavior corresponds almost exactly with the

Great Acceleration, and with skyrocketing greenhouse gas emissions. With that knowledge,

Defendants took steps to protect their own assets from these threats through immense internal

investment in research, infrastructure improvements, and plans to exploit new opportunities in a

warming world.

Instead of working to reduce the use and combustion of fossil fuel products, lower

the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, minimize the damage associated with continued high use

and combustion of such products, and ease the transition to a lower carbon economy, Defendants

concealed the dangers, sought to undennine public support for greenhouse gas regulation, and

engaged in massive campaigns to promote the ever-increasing use of their products at ever greater

volumes. Thus, each Defendant's conduct has contributed substantially to the buildup of CO2 in

the environment that drives global warming and its physical, environmental, and

socioeconomic consequences.

5 Will Steffen et al., The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration, 2 THE

ANTHROPOCENE REVIEW 81 , 81 (Jan. 2015),

bttp://joumals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1 0.1 1 77/205301961 4564785.

R. J. Andres et al., A Synthesis ofCarbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Combustion, 9

BIOGEOSCIENCES 1845, ] 851 (May 2012), http://www.biogeoscienccs.net/9/1845/201 2.

Id at 1 848.

C. Le Quere et al., supra note 4, at 630.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

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Reviewer: Alexa G.

Defendants are directly responsible for 1 82.9 gigatons of CO2 emissions between

1965 and 2015, represen6ng 14.81 % of total emissions of that potent greenhouse gas during that

period. Accordingly, Defendants are directly responsible for a substantial portion of past and

committed sea level rise (sea level rise that will occur even in the absence of any future emissions),

as well as for a substantial portion of changes to the hydrologic cycle, because of the consw11ption

of their fossil fuel products.

As a direct and proximate consequence of Defendants' wrongful conduct described

in this Complaint, average sea level will rise substantially along Rhode Island's coast; average

temperatures and extreme heat days will increase; flooding, extreme precipitation events such as

tropical storms and hurricanes, and drought will become more frequent and more severe; and the

ocean will wrum and become more acidic. The State, situated on the coast of Southern New

England boasting over 400 miles of coastline is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, cyclones,

and flooding, and already has spent significant funds to study, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of

global warming. Climate change impacts already adversely affect Rhode Island and jeopardize

State-owned or operated facilities critical for operations, utility services, and risk management, as

well as real property and other assets that are essential to community health, safety, and well-being.

The State of Rhode Island has engaged in several planning processes to prepare for

the multitude of impacts from climatic shifts and has recognized increasingly severe consequences.

1 0.

Defendants' production, promotion, and marketing of fossil fuel products,

simultaneous concealment of the known hazards of those products, and their championing of anti

science campaigns, actually and proximately caused Rhode Island's injuries.

11 .

Accordingly, the State brings claims against Defendants for Public Nuisance, and

Strict Liability for Failure to Wain, Strict Liability for Design Defect, Negligent Design Defect,

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Negligent Failul'e to Warn, Trespass, Impainnent of Public Trust Resources, and violations of the

State Envirorunental Rights Act.

12.

By this action, Rhode Island seeks to ensure that the parties who have profited from

externalizing the responsibility for sea level rise, drought, extreme precipitation events, heat.waves,

other results of the changing hydrologic and meteorological regime caused by global warming,

and associated consequences of those physical and environmental changes, bear the costs of those

impacts on R11ode Island, rather than the State, local taxpayers, residents, or broader segments of

the public. R11odc Island does not seek to impose liability on Defendants for harms other than those

to the State, including in its parens patriae capacity, nor for their direct emissions of greenhouse

gases, and does not seek to restrain Defendants from engaging in their business operations.

II.

PARTIES

Plaintiff

13.

Plaintiff, the State of R11ode Island, by and through the Attorney General of the

State of Rhode Island ("Rhode Island" or the "State"), brings this action as an exercise of its

authority to protect public trust resources and its police power, which includes, but is not limited

to, its power to prevent pollution of the State's property and waters, to prevent and abate nuisances,

and to prevent and abate hazards to public health, safety, welfare, and the envirorunent.

14.

The State also brings this action in its parens patriae capacity for the benefit of the

citizens of the State.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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1 5.

Rhode Island is already experiencing sea level rise and associated impacts. The

State will experience significant additional sea level rise over the coming decades through at least

the end of the century.9

16.

The sea level rise impacts to the State associated with a n increase in average mean

sea level height include, but are not limited to, permanent increased inundation and temporary

flooding in natural and built environments because of higher tides and intensified wave and stoim

surge events; aggravated wave impacts, including erosion, damage, and destruction of built

structures and infrastructure, as well as natural features such as cliffs, beaches, and dunes, with

consequent landslides; changes in sediment supply that could alter or destroy natural coastal

habitats such as beaches and wetlands, which otherwise would have naturally mitigated sea Jevel

rise impacts; and saltwater intrusion on groundwater and built infrastructure.

17.

In addition, Rhode Island is and will continue to be impacted by increased

temperatures and disruptions to the hydrologic cycle. The State is already experiencing a climatic

and meteorological shift toward winters and springs with more extreme precipitation events

contrasted by hotter, drier, and longer summers. These changes have led to increased property

damage, economic injuries, and impacts to public health. The State must spend substantial funds

to plan for and respond to these phenomena, and to mitigate their secondary and tertiary impacts.

18.

Compounding these environmental impacts are cascading social and economic

impacts that cause injuries to the State and that arise out of localized climate change-related

conditions.

Erika Spanger-Siegfried et al., When Rising Seas Hit Home: Hard Choices Aheadfor Hundreds

of US Coastal Communities, Union of Concerned Scientists, 1 0-1 1 (Apr. 2017),

https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/20 17 /07/when-rising-seas-hit-home-fullreport. pdf.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Submitted: 7/2/2018 9:57 AM

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Defendants

1 9.

Defendants are responsible for a substantial portion of the total greenhouse gases

emitted since 1 965. Defendants, individually and collectively, are responsible for extracting,

refining, processing, producing, promoting, and marketing fossil fuel products, the normal and

intended use of which has led to the emission of a substantial percentage of the total volume of

greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere since 1 965. Indeed, between 1 965 and 2015, the

named Defendants extracted from the earth enough fossil fuel materials (i.e. crude oil, coal, and

natural gas) to account for more than one in every seven tons of CO 2 and methane emitted

worldwide. Accounting for their wrongful promotion and marketing activities, Defendants bear a

dominant responsibility for global warming generally, and for Plaintiffs injuries in particular.

20.

When this Complaint references an act or omission of the Defendants, unless

specifically attributed or otherwise stated, such references should be interpreted to mean that the

officers, directors, agents, employees, or representatives of the Defendants committed or

authorized such an act or omission, or failed to adequately supervise or properly control or direct

their employees while engaged in the management, direction, operation or control of the affairs of

Defendants, and did so while acting within the scope of their employment or agency.

21.

Chevron Entities

Chevron Corporation is a multinational, vertically integrated energy and

chemicals company incorporated in the State of Delaware, with its global headquarters and

principal place of business in San Ramon, California.

Chevron Corporation operates through a web of United S tates and

international subsidiaries at all levels of the fossil fuel supply chain. Chevron Corporation's and

its subsidiaries' operations consist of exploring for, developing, and producing crude oil and

natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

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natural gas; transporting crude oil by major international oil export pipelines; transporting, storage,

and marketing of natural gas; refining crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil

and refined products; trnnsporting crude and refined oil products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor

equipment, and rail car; basic and applied research in multiple scientific fields including of

chemistry, geology, and engineering; and manufacturing and marketing of commodity

petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives.

Chevron Corporation controls and has controlled companywide decisions

about the quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

Chevron Corporation controls and has controlled companywide decisions

related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products, including

those of its subsidiaries.

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place

of business located in San Ramon, California. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. is qualified to do business in

Rhode Island. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation that acts

on Chevron Corporation's behalf and subj ect to Chevron Corporation's control. Chevron U.S.A.

Inc. was fo1merly known as, and did or does business as, and/or is the successor in liability to Gulf

Oil Corporation, Gulf Oil Corporation of Pem1sylvania, Chevron Products Company, Chevron

Chemical Company, Chevron Energy Solutions Company, ChevronTexaco Products Company,

Chevron U.S.A. Production Company, and Chevron U.S.A. Products Company.

"Chevron" as used hereafter, means collectively, Defendants Chevron

Corporation and Chevron U.S.A. Inc., and their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries,

affiliates, and divisions.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

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Chevron directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Chevron's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from which Chevron derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

instance, Chevron formerly owned and operated a petroleum products terminal on Veteran's

Memorial Parkway in East Providence that was used for oil storage and fossiI fuel product

distribution, marketing, and/or sales. Additionally, Chevron markets and/or has marketed gasoline

and other fossil fuel products to consumers, including through Chevron- and Gulf-branded

petroleum service stations in Rhode Island.

22.

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation, doing business as ExxonMobil, is a

multinational, vertkally integrated energy and chemicals company incorporated in the State of

New Jersey with its headquarters and principal place of business in Irving, Texas. Exxon is an1ong

the largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies in the world. Exxon Mobil

Corporation was formerly known as, did or does business as, and/or is the successor in liability to

ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company, Exxon Chemical U.S.A., ExxonMobil Chemical

Corporation, ExxonMobil Chemical U.S.A., ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Corporation, Exxon

Company, U.S.A., Exxon Corporation, and Mobil Corporation.

Exxon Mobil Corporation controls and has controlled companywide

decisions about the quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales) including those of its

subsidiaries. Exxon Mobil Corporation recently represented that its success) including its "ability

to mitigate risk and provide attractive returns to shareholders, depends on [its] ability to

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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successfully manage [its] overall portfolio, including diversification among types and locations of

our projects."

Exxon Mobil Corporation controls and has controlled companywide

decisions related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products,

including those of its subsidiaries. Exxon Mobil Corporation's Board, or an individual/sub-set of

the Board, or another committee appointed by the Board, holds the highest level of direct

responsibility for climate change policy within the company. Exxon Mobil Corporation's

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, its President and the other members of its

Management Committee are actively engaged in discussions relating to greenhouse gas emissions

and the risks of climate change on an ongoing basis. Exxon Mobil Corporation require its

subsidiaries to provide an estimate of greenhouse gas-related emissions costs in their economic

projections when seeking funding for capital investments.

ExxonMobil Oil Corporation is wholly-owned subsidiary of Exxon Mobil

Corporation that acts on Exxon Mobil Corporation's behalf and subject to Exxon Mobil

Corporation's control. ExxonMobil Oil Corporation is incorporated in the State of New York with

its principal place of business in Irving, Texas. ExxonMobil Oil Corporation is qualified to do

business in Rhode Island. ExxonMobil Oil Corporation was fo1merly known as, did or docs

business as, and/or is the successor in liability to Mobil Oil Corporation.

"Exxon" as used hereafter, means collectively defendants Exxon Mobil

Corporation and ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, and their predecessors, successors, parents,

subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions.

Exxon consists of numerous divisions and affiliates in all areas of the fossil

fuel industry, including exploration for and production of crude oil and natural gas; manufacture

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

Filed in Providence/Bristol County Superior Court

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of petroleum products; and transportation, marketing, promotion, and sale of crude oil, natural gas,

and petroleum products. Exxon is also a major manufacturer and marketer of commodity

petrochemical products.

Exxon directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Exxon's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from which Exxon derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

example, Exxon markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to consumers,

including th.rough Mobil-branded petroleum service stations in Rhode Island. Additionally, Exxon

has owned and operated a fossil fuel product terminal in East Providence that was used for

petroleum product storage, fonnulation, repackaging, and marketing, among other uses.

23.

BP Entities

BP P.L.C. is a multinational, vertically integrated energy and petrochemical

public limited company, registered in England and Wales with its principal place of business in

London, England. BP P.L.C. consists of three main operating segments: ( 1 ) exploration and

production, (2) refining and marketing, and (3) gas power and rcnewables. BP P.L.C. is the

ultimate parent company for numerous subsidiaries that find and produce oil and gas worldwide,

that refine oil into fossil fuel products such as gasoline, and that market and sell oil, fuel, other

refined petroleum products, and natural gas worldwide. B P P.L.C.' s subsidiaries explore for oil

and natural gas under a wide range of licensing, joint arrangement, and other contractual

agreements.

BP P.L.C. controls and has controlled companywide decisions about the

quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries. B P P.L. C.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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is the ultimate decisionmaker on fundamental decisions about the company's core business, i. e. ,

the level of companywide fossil fuels to produce, including production among BP P.L.C.'s

subsidiaries. For instance, BP P.L.C. reported that in 201 6-201 7 it brought online thirteen major

exploration and production projects. These contributed to a 12% increase in the BP group's overall

fossil fuel product production. These projects were carried out by BP P.L.C. 's subsidiaries. Based

on these projects, BP P.L.C. expects the company to deliver to customers 900,000 barrels of new

product per day by 2021 . BP P.L.C. further reported that in 20 1 7 it sanctioned three new

exploration projects in Trinidad, India, and the Gulf of Mexico and added 1 43% reserves

replacement for the group.

BP P.L.C. controls and has controlled companywide decisions about the

quantity and extent of fossil fuel production, including those of its subsidiaries. BP P.L.C. makes

fossil fuel production decisions for the entire BP group based on a number of factors, including

climate change. BP P.L.C.'s Board, an individual/subset of the Board, or a committee appointed

by the B oard, is the highest level within the company with direct responsibility for climate change

policy. BP P.L.C.'s chief executive is responsible for maintaining the BP group's system of

internal control that governs the BP group's business conduct. BP P.L.C. reviews climate change

risks facing the BP group through two executive committees chaired by the group chief executive

and one working group chaired by the executive vice president and group chief of staff, as part of

BP group' s established management structure.

BP America Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BP P.L.C. that acts on BP

P.L.C.'s behalf and subject to BP P.L.C.'s control. BP America Inc. is a vertically integrated

energy and petrochemical company incorporated in the State of Delaware with its headquarters

and principal place of business in Houston, Texas. BP America Inc., consists of numerous

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Reviewer: Alexa G.

divisions and affiliates in all aspects of the fossil fuel industry, including exploration for and

production of crude oil and natural gas; manufacture of petroleum products; and transp01iation,

marketing, and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. BP America Inc. has been

qualified to do business in Rhode Island. BP America Inc. was formerly known as, did or does

business as, and/or is the successor in liability to BP Products North America Inc., Atlantic

Rich.field Company, BP Amoco Corporation, Amoco Corporation, Amoco Oil Company, The

American Oil Company, BP Exploration & Oil Inc., Sohio Oil Company, Standard Oil of Ohio

(SOHIO), Standard Oil (Indiana), B P Amoco Plc, BP Oil Inc., BP Oil Company, Atlantic Richfield

Delaware Corporation, Atlantic Richfield Company (a Pennsylvania corporation), ARCO

Products Company, and Arco Chemical Company, a division of Atlantic Richfield Company.

B P Products North America Inc. is a subsidiary of BP P.L.C. that acts on

B P P.L.C. 's behalf and subj ect to BP P.L.C. 's control. BP Products North America Inc. is engaged

in fossil fuel exploration, production, refining, and marketing. B P Products Nmih America Inc. is

incorporated in Maryland and has its principal office in Naperville, Illinois. B P Products North

America Inc. qualified to do business in Rhode Island.

Defendants BP P.L.C., BP America, Inc., BP Products North America, Inc.,

and their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions are collectively

referred to herein as "BP."

B P directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to Rhode

Island. A substantial portion of BP's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted, refined,

transpo1ied, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or consumed in

Rhode Island, from which BP derives and has derived substantial revenue. For example, BP

predecessors-in-interest Arco and Amoco owned and operated a petroleum terminal at Kettle Point

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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Reviewer: Alexa G.

in East Providence that began operating in the early 20th century. The terminal was used for fossil

fuel product storage and marketing. BP is the current owner of the terminal property. Additionally,

BP markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to consumers tlu·ough BP

and Amoco-branded petroleum service stations in Rhode Island. BP owns and operates an

interactive webpage that allow consumers to locate BP-branded gas stations in the state.

24.

Shell Entities

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a vertically integrated, multinational energy and

petrnchemical company. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is incorporated in England and Wales, with its

headquarters and principle place of business in the Hague, Netherlands. Royal Dutch Shell PLC

consists of over a thousand divisions, subsidiaries, and affiliates engaged in all aspects of the fossil

fuel industry, including exploration, development, extraction, manufacturing, and energy

production, transport, trading, marketing, and sales.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC controls and has controlled companywide decisions

about the quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC's B oard of Directors in the Hague detennines whether and to what extent

Shell subsidiary holdings around the globe produce Shell-branded fossil fuel products. For

instance, Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Board of Directors makes individual decisions on whether and

when to initiate drilling in particular oil reserves.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC controls and has controlled companywide decisions

related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products, including

those of its subsidiaries. Overall accountability for climate change within the Shell group of

companies lies with Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Committee.

Additionally, Royal Dutch Shell PLC has directed its subsidiaries to reduce the carbon footprint

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of all fossil fuel products p roduced under the Shell brand, including those of its subsidiaries, and

across all upstream and downstream segments of its operations.

Shell Oil Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC

that acts on Royal Dutch Shell PLC's behalf and subject to Royal Dutch Shell PLC's control. Shell

Oil Company is incorporated in Delaware and with its principal place of business in Houston,

Texas. Shell Oil Company is qualified to do business in Rhode Island. Shell Oil Company was

formerly lmown as, did or does business as, and/or is the successor in liability to Deer Park

Refining LP, Shell Oil, Shell Oil Products, Shell Chemical, Shell Trading US, Shell Trading (US)

Company, Shell Energy Services, Texaco Inc., The Pennzoil Company, Shell Oil Products

Company LLC, Shell Oil Products Company, Star Enterprise, LLC, Star Enterprise LLC,

Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, and Motiva Enterprises LLC.

Motiva Enterprises LLC has refined and marketed and continues to refine

and market Shell-branded products through approximately 8,300 Shell-branded petroleum service

stations in the eastern and southern United States. Motiva Enterprises LLC is incorporated in

Delaware with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. Motiva Enterprises LLC is

qualified to do business and is registered in Rhode Island as a p etroleum product merchant. At

tin1es relevant to this Complaint, Motiva Enterprises LLC has been a wholly owned subsidiary of

Royal Dutch Shell PLC that acts on Royal Dutch Shell PLC's behalf and subject to Royal Dutch

Shell PLC's control.

Defendants Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Shell Oil Company, Motiva

Enterprises LLC, and their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions

are collectively referred to as "Shell."

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Shell directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Shell's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufacturer, sold, and/or consumed

in Rhode Island, from which Shell derives and has derived substantial revenue. For example, Shell

until 20 1 7 operated the largest capacity fossil fuel terminal in Rhode Island, at 520 Allens Avenue

in Providence. The terminal was used for fossil fuel product storage, distribution, and sales.

Additionally, Shell markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to

consumers tlu·ough Shell-branded petroleum service stations in Rhode Island. Shell owns and

operates an interactive webpage that allows consumers to locate Shell-branded gas stations in

the state.

25.

ConocoPhillips Entities

ConocoPhillips is a multinational energy company incorporated in the State

of Delaware and with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. ConocoPhillips consists

of numerous divisions, subsidiaries, and affiliates that carry out ConocoPhillips's fundamental

decisions related to all aspects of the fossil fuel industry, including exploration, extraction,

production, manufacture, transport, and marketing.

ConocoPhillips controls and has controlled companywide decisions about

the quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

ConocoPhillips' most recent annual report subsumes the operations of the entire ConocoPhillips

group of subsidiaries under its name. Therein, ConocoPhillips represents that its value-for which

ConocoPhWips maintains ultimate responsibility-is a function of its decisions to direct

subsidiaries to explore for and produce fossil fuels: "Unless we successfully add to our existing

proved reserves, our future crude oil, bitwnen, natural gas and natural gas liquids production will

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decline, resulting in an adverse impact to our business." ConocoPhillips optimizes the

ConocoPhillips group's oil and gas portfolio to fit ConocoPhillips' strategic plan. For example, i n

November 2016, ConocoPhillips announced a plan to generate $ 5 billion to $ 8 billion of proceeds

over two years by optimizing its business portfolio, i ncluding its fossil fuel product business, to

focus on low cost-of-supply fossil fuel production proj ects that strategically fit its

development plans.

ConocoPhillips controls and has controlled companywide decisions related

to global waiming ai1d greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fue) products, including those of

its subsidiaries. For instance, ConocoPhillips' Board has the highest level of direct responsibi]ity

for climate change poJicy within the company. ConocoPhillips has developed and implements a

corporate Climate Change Action Plan to govern climate change decision-making across all

entities in the ConocoPhillips group.

ConocoPhillips Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of ConocoPhillips

that acts on ConocoPhillips' behalf and subject to ConocoPhillips' control. ConocoPhillips

Compmy is incorporated in Delaware and has its principal office in B artlesville, Oklahoma.

ConocoPhillips Company is qualified to do business in Rhode Island and has a registered agent

for service of process in Rhode Island.

Phillips 66 is a multinational energy and petrochemical company

incorporated in Delaware and with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. It

encompasses downstream fossil fue) processing, refining, transport, and marketing segments that

were fotmerly owned and/or controlled by ConocoPhillips.

Phillips 66 Company is a subsidiary of Phillips 66 that acts on Phillips 66's

behalf and subj ect to Phillips 66's control. Phillips 66 Company is incorporated in Delaware and

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has its principal office in Houston, Texas. Phillips 66 Company i s qualified to do business in Rhode

Island and has a registered agent for service of process in Rhode Island. Phillips 66 Company was

formerly known as, did or does business as, and/or js the successor in liability to Phillips Petroleum

Company, Conoco, Inc., Tosco Corporation, and Tosco Refining Co.

Defendants ConocoPhillips, ConocoPhillips Company, Phillips 66, Phillips

66 Company, and their predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions are

collectively referred to herein as "ConocoPhillips."

ConocoPhillips transacts and has transacted substantial fossil fuel-related

business in Rhode Island. A substantial portion of ConocoPhillips' s fossil fuel products are or have

been extracted, refined, transported, traded, distributed, promoted, marketed, manufactured, sold,

and/or consumed in Rhode Island, from which ConocoPhillips derives and has derived substantial

revenue. For instance, ConocoPhillips shipped gasoline manufactw·ed at their refineries via

common carrier pipelines intended to deliver gasoline to Petroleum Administration for Defense

District l , including Rhode Island.

26.

Citgo Petroleum Corporation

Citgo Petroleum Corporation ("Citgo") is a direct, wholly owned subsidiary

of PDV America, Incorporated, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PDV Holding,

Incorporated. These organizations' ultimate parent is Petr6leos de Venezuela, S.A. ("PDVSA"),

an entity wholly owned by the Republic of Venezuela that plans, coordinates, supervises, and

controls activities carried out by its subsidiaries. Citgo is incorporated in the State of Delaware

and maintains its headquarters in Houston, Texas. Citgo is qualified to do business in

Rhode Island.

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Citgo controls and has controlled companywide decisions about the

quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

Citgo controls and has controlled companywide decisions related to climate

change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products, including those of

its subsidiaries.

Citgo and its subsidiaries are engaged in refining, marketing, and

transporting petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, petrochemicals,

lubricants, asphalt, and refined waxes.

Citgo directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Citgo's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from which Citgo derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

instance, Citgo bas m arketed, sold, and/or distributed heating oil in Rhode Island including tln·ough

the CITGO - VenezueJa Heating Oil progran1, a heating oil assistance program. Additionally,

Citgo markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to consumers, including

through Citgo-branded petroleum service stations in Rl1ode Island. Citgo owns and operates an

interactive webpage that allows consumers to locate Citgo-branded gas stations in the state. Citgo

also supplied gasoline to 7-Eleven gas stations located in Rhode Island.

27.

Marathon Entities

Marathon Oil Company is an energy company incorporated in the State of

Ohio with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. Marathon Oil Company is a corporate

ancestor of Marathon Oil Corporation and Marathon Petroleum Company.

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Marathon Oil Corporation is a multinational energy company inco1porated

in the State of Delaware and with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. Marathon Oil

Corporation consists of multiple subsidiaries and affiliates involved in the exploration for,

extraction, production, and marketing of fossil fuel products.

M arathon Petroleum Corporation is a multinational energy company

incorporated in Delaware and with its principal place of business in Findlay, Ohio. Marathon

Petroleum Corporation was spun off from the operations of Marathon Oil Corporation in 201 1 . It

consists of multiple subsidiaries and affiliates involved in fossil fuel product refming, marketing,

retail, and transport, including both petroleum and natural gas products.

Marathon Oil Corporation and Marathon Petroleum Corporation control

and have controlled their companywide decisions about the quantity and extent of fossil fuel

production and sales, including those of their subsidiaries.

Marathon Oil Corporation and Marathon Petroleum Corporation control

and have controlled their companywide decisions about the quantity and extent of fossil fuel

production, including those of their subsidiaries.

Marathon Petroleum Company LP is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Marathon Petroleum Corporation that acts on Marathon Petroleum Corporation's behalf and

subject to Marathon Petroleum Corporation's control. Marathon Petroleum Company LP is

inco1porated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Findlay, Ohio. Marathon

Petroleum Company LP is qualified to do business in Rhode Island. Marathon Petroleum Company

LP is engaged in the marketing of motor fuels and other refined products.

Speedway LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum

Corporation that acts on Marathon Petroleum Co1poration's behalf and subject to Marathon

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Petroleum Corporation's control. Speedway LLC is incorporated in the State of Delaware with its

principal place of business in Enon, Ohio. Speedway LLC is qualified to do business in Rhode

Island and has a registered agent for service of process in Rhode Island.

Defendants Marathon Oil Company, Marathon Oil Corporation, Marathon

Petroleum Corporation, Marathon Petroleum Company LP, Speedway LLC, and their

predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions, are collectively refen-ed to

as "Marathon."

Marathon directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Marathon's fossil fuel products arc or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from which Marathon derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

example, Marathon markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to

consumers, including through Speedway-branded petroleum service stations in Rhode Island.

Marathon owns and operates an interactive webpage that allow consumers to locate Speedway

branded gas stations in the state.

28.

Hess Corporation

Hess Corporation ("Hess") is a global, vertically integrated petroleum

exploration and extraction company incorporated in the State of Delaware with its headquarters

and principal place of business in New York, New York. Hess is qualified to do business in Rhode

Island and has a registered agent for service of process in Rhode Island. Hess was formerly known

as, did or does business as, and/or is the successor in liability to Amerada Hess Corporation,

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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WilcoHess LLC, Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation, Hess Energy Trading Company, LLC, and

Hartree Partners, LP.

Hess is

engaged

the

exploration,

development,

production,

transportation, purchase, marketing, and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its oil and gas production

operations are located p1imarily in the United States, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Malaysia,

Thailand, and Norway. Prior to 20 1 4, Hess also conducted extensive retail operations in its own

name and through its subsidiaries.

Hess controls and has controlled companywide decisions about the quantity

and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

Hess controls and has controlled companywide decisions related to climate

change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products, including those of

its subsidiaries.

Hess directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Hess's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from wl1ich Hess derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

example, Hess markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to consumers,

including through Hess-branded petrnleum service stations in RJ1ode Island.

29.

Lukoil Pan Americas, LLC

Lukoil Pan Americas, LLC ("Lukoil") is a global, vertically integrated

petrolewn exploration and extraction company incorporated in the State of Delaware with its

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headquaiters and principal place of business in New York, New York. Lukoil is qualified to do

business in Rhode Island and has a registered agent for service of process in Rhode Island.

Lukoil is engaged in the exploration, development, production,

transpo1tation, purchase, marketing, and sale of crude oil and natural gas; gas processing; oil

refining; generation, transmission and distribution of heat and power; and manufacturing and

marketing of commodity petrochemicals. Lukoil is the ultimate parent company for

numerous subsidiaries.

Lukoil controls ai1d has controlled companywide decisions about the

quantity and extent of fossil fuel production and sales, including those of its subsidiaries.

Lukoil controls and has controlled companywide decisions related to

climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from its fossil fuel products, including those of

its subsidiaries.

Lukoil directs and has directed substantial fossil fuel-related business to

Rhode Island. A substantial portion of Lukoil's fossil fuel products are or have been extracted,

refined, transported, traded, distributed, marketed, promoted, manufactured, sold, and/or

consumed in Rhode Island, from which Lukoil derives and has derived substantial revenue. For

example, Lukoil markets and/or has marketed gasoline and other fossil fuel products to consumers,

including through Lukoil-branded petroleum service stations in Rhode Island.

Getty Petroleum Marketing, Inc. markets and/or marketed gasoline and

petroleum products. Getty Petroleum Mai·keting Inc. is registered in Rhode Island as a non-resident

landlord, as the owner of at least one gas station located at 7780 Post Road, No1th Kingstown,

Rhode Island. At times relevant to this Complaint, Getty Petroleum Marketing, Inc. has been a

wholly owned subsidiary of Lukoil that acted on Lukoil's behalf ai1d subject to Lukoil's control.

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During that time, Getty Petroleum Marketing leased a pipeline at the East Providence Terminal in

Rhode Island.

30.

Doe Defendants: The true names and capacities, whether individual, corporate,

associate, or otherwise of Defendants Does 1 through 1 00, inclusive, are unknown to Plaintiff,

who therefore sues said Defendants by such fictitious names pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-5-20.

Plaintiff is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that each of the fictitiously named

Defendants is responsible in some mam1er for the acts and occu1Tences herein alleged, and that

Plaintiffs damages were caused by such Defendants.

31.

Relevant Non-Parties: Fossil Fuel Industry Associations: As set forth in greater

detail below, each Defendant had actual knowledge that its fossil fuel products were hazardous.

Defendants obtained knowledge of the hazards of their products independently and through their

membership and. involvement in trade associations.

32.

Each Defendant's fossil fuel promotion and marketing efforts were assisted by the

trade associations described below. Acting on behalf of the Defendants, the industry associations

engaged in a long-term course of conduct to misrepresent, omit, and conceal the dangers of

Defendants' fossil fuel products.

a. The American Petroleum Institute (APD: API is a national trade association

representing the oil and gas industry, formed in 1 91 9. The following Defendants

and/or their predecessors in interest are and/or have been API members at tinles

relevant to this litigation: Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Total, Marathon, and

Hess. 1 0

American Petroleum Institute, Members (webpage) (accessed June 1 8, 2018),

http: //www.api.org/membership/members.

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b. The Western States Petroleum Association {WSPA): WSPA is a trade

association representing oil producers in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and

Washington. 1 1 Membership has included, among other entities: BP, Chevron, Shell,

and ExxonMobil. 1 2

c. The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is a national

association of petroleum and petrochemical companies, formerly known as the

National Petroleum Refiners Association. At relevant times, its members included,

but were not limited to, Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, Citgo, Total, and Marathon. 1 3

d. U.S. Oil & Gas Association {USOGA) is a national trade association representing

oil and gas producers, formerly known as the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas

Association. USOGA' s membership has included BP, Chevron, Citgo, Exxon,

Shell, Marathon, and Hess. 14

e. Western Oil & Gas Association (WOGA) was a California nonprofit trade

association representing the oil and gas industries, consisting of over 75 member

companies. Its members included companies and individual responsible for more

than 65% of petroleum production and 90% of petroleum refining and marketing

1 1 Western States Petroleum Association, About (webpage) (accessed June 18, 2018),

https://www.wspa.org/about.

Western States Petroleum Association, Member Companies (webpage) (accessed June 27,

2018), https://www.wspa.org/about.

American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Membership Directory (webpage) (accessed

June 1 8, 201 8), https://www.afpm.org/membership-directory.

14 See, e.g. , Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Member Companies (webpage)

(accessed June 18, 2018), http://www.lmoga.com/members/member-companies. USOGA's

membership is divided among its four subsidiary divisions.

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in the Western United States. 15 WOGA membership likely included, but was not

limited to, defendants Chevron, Exxon, and Shell. 1 6 Other fossil fuel company

members of WOGA may have included, but were not limited to ConocoPhillips,

Champlin Petroleum Company (Anadarko) 17 and Reserve Oil & Gas Company. 18

f. The Information Council for the Environment aCE): ICE was formed by coal

companies and their allies, including Western Fuels Association and the National

Coal Association. Associated companies included Pittsburg and Midway Coal

Mining (Chevron).

g. The Global Climate Coalition (GCC): GCC was an industry group formed to

oppose greenhouse gas emission reduction policies and the Kyoto Protocol. It was

founded in 1 989 shortly after the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

meeting was held, and disbanded in 200 1 . Founding members included the National

Association of Manufacturers, the National Coal Association, the Edison Electric

Institute, and the United States Chamber of Commerce. The GCC's early individual

corporate members included Amoco (BP), API, Chevron, Exxon, Ford, Shell, and

Texaco (Chevron). Over its existence other members and funders included ARCO

(BP), and the Western Fuels Association. The coalition also operated for several

years out of the National Association of Manufacturers' offices.

15 Am. Petroleum Inst. v. Knecht, 456 F. Supp. 889, 894 n.2 (C.D. Cal. 1 978), aff'd, 609 F.2d

1 306 (9th Cir. 1 979).

See id. at 894 n.3.

Hereinafter, parenthetical references to Defendants indicate corporate ancestry and/or

affiliation.

·1 8 See Am. Petroleum Inst. , supra note 1 5, 456 F. Supp. at 894 n.3.

Case Number: PC-2018-4716

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III.

AGENCY

33.

At all times herein mentioned, each of the Defendants was the agent, servant,

partner, aider and abettor, co-conspirator, and/or joint venturer of each of the remaining

Defendants herein and was at all times operating and acting within the purpose and scope of said

agency, service, employment, partnership, conspiracy, and joint venture and rendered substantial

assistance and encouragement to the other Defendants, knowing that their conduct was wrongful

and/or constituted a breach of duty.

IV.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

34.

Each Defendant named here maintains sufficient minimum contacts with Rhode

Island, as described above, such that this Court's exercise of jurisdiction over it is not contrary to

the provisions of the constitution or laws of the United States, and this Court therefore has

jurisdiction pw·suant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-5-33.

35.

The Providence County Superior Court is a court of general jurisdiction and

therefore has subject matter jurisdiction over this action. Because the amount in controversy

exceeds $1 0,000, this Court has exclusive original jurisdiction pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws

§8-2-14(a).

36.

Venue is proper in Providence County pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-4-2 because

this matter concerns rights and interests in real property lying within this County; and pursuant to

RI. Gen. Laws § 9-4-5 because some of the Defendants maintain operations and may be found in

this County.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Global Warming-Observed Effects and Known Cause

37.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1 950s, many of the

observed changes to the climate system are unprecedented over decades to millennia. Globally,

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the atmosphere and ocean have warmed, sea level has risen, and the amounts of snow and ice have

diminished, thereby altering hydrologic systems. 1 9 As a result, extreme weather events have

increased, including, but not limited to, heat waves, droughts, and extreme precipitation events.20

38.

Ocean and land surface temperatures have increased at a rapid pace during the late

20th and early 21st centuries:

a. 2016 was the hottest year on record by globally averaged surface

temperatures, exceeding mid-20th century mean ocean and land surface

temperatures by approximately l .69 °F.21 Eight of the twelve months in 20 16

were hotter by globally averaged surface temperatures than those respective

months in any previous year. October, November, and December 20 1 6

showed the second hottest average surface temperatures for those months,

second only to temperatures recorded in 2015.22

b. The Earth's hottest month ever recorded was February 2016, followed

immediately by the second hottest month on record, March 2016.23

c. The second hottest year on record by globally averaged surface temperatures

was 2015, and the thfrd hottest was 201 7.24

19 IPCC, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, supra note 3, at 40.

20 Id. at 8.

N OAA, Global Climate Report - Annual 2017, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/

201713; NASA, "NASA, NOAA Data Show 2016 Wannest Year on Record Globally" (press

release) (Jan. 18, 2017), https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-201 6warmest-year-on-record-globally.

Id.

Jugal K. Patel, "How 2016 Became Earth's Hottest Year on Record," N.Y. TIMES (Jan. 1 8,

201 7), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201 7/01/1 8/science/earth/2016-hottest-year-on

record.html.

NOAA, Global Climate Report - Annual 201 7, supra note 21.

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d. The ten hottest years on record by globally averaged surface temperature have

all occu1Ted since 1 998,25 and sixteen of the seventeen hottest years have

occurred since 2001 . 26

e. Each of the past three decades has been warmer by average surface

temperature than any preceding decade on record. 27

f. The period between 1 983 and 20 12 was likely the warmest 30-year period in

the Northern Hemisphere since approximately 700 AD.2 8

3 9.

The average global surface and ocean temperature in 20 1 6 was approxi mately 1.7 °F

warmer than the 20th century baseline, which is the greatest positive anomaly observed since at

least 1 880.29 The increase in hotter temperatures and more frequent positive anomalies during the

Great Acceleration is occuITing both globally and locally, including in Rhode Island. The graph

below shows the increase in global land and ocean temperature anomalies since 1 880, as measured

against the 1 9 1 0-2000 global average temperature.30

2s Id

NASA, "NASA, NOAA Data Show 20 1 6 Wannest Year on Record Globally" (press release)

(Jan. 1 8, 20 1 7), https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-2016-warmest-year

on-record-globally.

IPCC Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, supra note 3 , 2.

2s Id.

NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance (Global Time

Series) (June 20 1 7), https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/time-series/global/globe/land_ocean/ytd/

12/1 880-20 1 6.

30 Id.

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Fig. 1 : Global Land and Ocean Temperature Anomalies, January - December

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The mechanism by which human activity causes global wa1ming and climate

change is well established: ocean and atmospheric warming is overwhelmingly caused by

anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. 3 1

41.

When emitted , greenhouse gases trap heat within the Earth's atmosphere that would

otherwise radiate into space.

42.

GTeenhouse gases are largely byproducts of humans combusting fossil fuels to

produce energy and using fossil fuels to create petrochemical products.

43 .

Human activity, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, is the primary cause of

global warming and its associated effects on Earth's climate.

44.

Prior to World War II, most anthropogenic CO2 emissions were caused by land-use

practices, such as forestry and agriculture, which altered the ability of the land and global biosphere

IPCC, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, supra note 3, at 4.

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to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere; the impacts of such activities on Earth's climate were

relatively minor. Since the beginning of the Great Acceleration, however, both the annual rate and

total volume of anthropogenic CO2 emissions have increased enormously following the advent of

major uses of oil, gas, and coal. The graph below shows that while CO2 emissions attributable to

forestry and other land-use change have remained relatively constant, total emissions attributable

to fossil fuels have increased dramatically since the 1 950s. 32

Fig. 2: Total Annual Carbon Dio;xide Emissions by Source, 1860-2016

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1 940

1 960

1 980

2000 1 6

32 Global Carbon Project, Global Carbon Budget 20 1 7 (Nov. 1 3 , 2017),

http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/1 7/:files/GCP_CarbonBudget_201 7.pdf

(citing CDIAC; R.A. Houghton & Alexander A. Nassikas, Global and Regional Fluxes of

Carbon from Land Use and Land Cover Change 1850-2015, 3 1 GLOBAL BrOCHEMTCAL CYCLES

3 , 456 (Feb. 20 1 7)).

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As human reliance on fossil fuels for industrial and mechanical processes has

45.

increased, so too have greenhouse gas emissions, especially of CO2. The Great Acceleration is

marked by a massive increase in the annual rate of fossil fuel emissions: more than half of all

cumulative CO2 emissions have occurred since 1 988.33 The rate of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels

and industry, moreover, has increased threefold since the 1 960s, and by more than 60% since

1990.34 The graph below illustrates the increasing rate of global CO2 emissions since the industrial

era began. 35

Fig. 3: Cumulative Annual Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1 751-2014

2014

737 GtC02 emitted 1 751 •

1 987 (49.8%}

• 743 GtC02 emitted 1 98B-

(projected) --..

2014 (50.2%}

0 -1,,

1 75 1

1865 1 885 1 905 1 92 5 1945 1 965 1 985 2005

R. J. Andres et al., supra note 6, at 1 85 1 .

C. Le Quere et al., supra note 4, at 630 ("Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry

have increased every decade from an average of 3.1±0.2 GtC/yr in the 1 960s to an average of

9.3±0.5 GtC/yr during 2006-201 5.'').

Peter Frumhoff et al., The Climate Responsibilities of Industrial Carbon Producers, 1 32

CLIMATIC CHANGE 1 57, 1 64 (201 5).

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46.

Because of the increased use of fossil fuel products, concentrations of greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere are now at a level unprecedented in at least 800,000 years. 36 The graph

below illustrates the nearly 30% increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration above pre-Industrial

levels since 1960.3 7

Fig. 4: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Parts Per Million, 1960-2017

410

400

e 390

380

Seasonally couected trend.

Scr,pps lns�1uoo1, or Oceano9raphy (Keeling 01 111.. 1975)

NOAAIESRL (Oluookoncky and rai,s, 2018)

•

Monthly moan.

- NOAA/ESRL

370

360

iii

350

340

330

320

310

1960

1 970

1980

1990

Time (yr)

2000

2010

2020

Sea Level Rise-Known Causes and Observed Effects

47.

Sea level rise is the physical consequence of (a) the the1mal expansion of ocean

waters as they warm; (b) increased mass loss from land-based glaciers that are melting as ambient

air temperature increases; and (c) the shrinking of land-based ice sheets due to increasing ocean

36 IPCC, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report, supra note 3, at 4.

c. Le Quere et al., Global Carbon Budget 201 7, 10 EARTH SYST. SCI. DATA 405, 408

(Mar. 2018)).

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and air temperature. 38

48.

Of the increase in energy that has accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere between

1 9 7 1 and 20 10, more than 90% is stored in the oceans. 39

49.

Anthropogenic forcing, in the form of greenhouse gas pollution largely from the

production, use, an.d combustion of fossil fuel products, is the dominant cause of global mean sea

level rise since 1970, explaining at least 70% of the sea level rise observed between 1 970 and

2000.40 Natural radiative forcing-that is, causes of climate change not related to human activity

"makes essentially zero contribution [to observed sea level rise] over the twentieth century (2%

over the period 1 900-2005)."4 1

50.

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas pollution is the dominant factor in each of the

independent causes of sea level rise, including the increase in ocean the1mal expansion,42 in glacier

mass loss, and in more negative surface mass balance from the ice sheets.43

51.

There is a well-defined relation between cumulative emissions of CO2 and

committed global mean sea level. This relation, moreover, holds proportionately for co.mmitted

regional sea level rise.44

52.

Nearly l 00% of the sea level rise from any projected greenhouse gas emissions

NOAA, Is Sea Level Rising? (webpage) (last updated June 25, 20 1 8),

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html.

lPCC, Climate Change 20 J 4: Synthesis Report, supra note 3, at 4.

40 Aimee B. A. Slangen, et al., Anthropogenic Forcing Dominates Global Mean Sea-Level Rise

Since 1970, 6 NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE 70 1 , 70 1 (20 1 6).

4 1 Id.

42 Id.

43 Id.

Peter U. Clark, et al., Consequences of Twenty-First-Century Policyfor Multi-Millennial

Climate and Sea-Level Change, 6 NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE 360, 365 (20 1 6).

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scenario will persist for at least 1 0,000 years.45 Trus owes to the long residence time of CO 2 in the

atmosphere that sustains temperature increases, and ine1tia in the climate system.46

53.

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas pollution caused the increased frequency and

severity of extreme sea level events (temporary sea level height increases due to storm surges or

extreme tides, exacerbated by elevated baseline sea level) observed during the Great

Acceleration.47 The incidence and magnitude of extreme sea level events has increased globally

since 1970.48 The impacts of such events, which generally occur with large stonns, high tidal

events, offshore low-pressure systems associated with high winds, or the confluence of any of

these factors, 49 are exacerbated with higher average sea level, which functionally raises the

baseline for the destructive impact of extreme weather and tidal events. Indeed, the magnitude and

frequency of extreme sea level events can occur in the absence of increased intensity of storm

events, given the increased average elevation from which flooding and inundation events begin.

These effects, and others, significantly and adversely affect Rhode Island, with increased severity

in the future.

54.

Historical greenhouse gas emissions alone through 2000 will cause a global mean

sea level rise of at least 7.4 feet.50 Additional greenhouse gas emissions from 2001-2015 have

caused approximately 10 additional feet of conunittcd sea level rise. Even immediate and

45 Id

. at 361.

at 360.

IPCC> Climate Change 2013: Summary for Policymakers, 7 Table SPM. 1 (201 3),

https: //www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1 /WGIAR5_SPM_brochure_en.pdf.

48 IPCC, Thomas F. Stocker et al., Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis,

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, 290 (201 3),

bttp://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1.

49 Id

Peter U. Clark et al., supra note 44, at 365.

46 Id.

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permanent cessation of all additional anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions would not prevent

the eventual inundation of land at elevations between current average mean sea level and 1 7.4 feet

of elevation in the absence of adaptive measures.

55.

The relationship between anthropogenic CO2 emissions and committed sea level

rise is nearly linear and always positive. For emissions, including future emissions, from the year

200 1 , the relation is approximately 0.25 inches of committed sea level rise per 1 GtC02 released.

For the period 1965 to 2000, the relation is approximately 0.05 inches of committed sea level rose

per 1 GtC02 released. For the period 1 965 to 201 5, normal use of Defendants' fossil fuel products

caused a substantial portion of committed sea level rise. Each and every additional unit of CO2

emitted from the use of Defendants' fossil fuel products will add to the sea level rise already

committed to the geophysical system.

56.

Projected onshore impacts associated with rising sea temperature and water level

include, but are not limited to, increases in :flooding and erosion; increases in the occurrence,

persistence, and severity of stonn surges; infrastructure inundation; saltwater intrusion in

groundwater; public and private property damage; and pollution associated with damaged

wastewater infrastructure. All of these effects significantly and adversely affect Rhode Island.

57.

Sea level rise has already taken grave tolls on inhabited coastlines. For instance, the

U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") estimates that nuisance

flooding occw·s from 300% to 900% more frequently within U.S. coastal communities today than

just 50 years ago. 5 1

58.

Nationwide, more than tlu·ee quarters (76%) of flood days caused by high water

levels from sea level rise between 2005 and 20 1 4 (2,505 of the 3,291 flood days) would not have

NOAA, Is Sea Level Rising?, supra note 38.

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happened but for human-caused climate change. More than two-thirds (67%) of flood days since

1 950 would not have happened without the sea level rise caused by increasing greenhouse

gas emissions.52

59.

Regional expressions of sea level rise will differ from the global mean, and are

especiaJly influenced by changes in ocean and atmospheric dynamics, as well as the gravitational,

deformational, and rotational effects of the loss of glaciers and ice sheets. 53 Over the past half

century, sea levels in the Northeast have been increasing 3 to 4 times faster than the global average

rate. 54 Rhode Island is experiencing and will continue to experience greater sea level rise than the

global average, due to several factors including changes in ocean circulation as a result of climate

change and land subsistence.5 5

60.

Rhode Island has experienced over 1 0 inches of sea level rise since 1 930, averaging

over an inch per decade.56 The mean annual rate of sea level rise has increased in recent decades

and will continue to rise significantly. According to NOAA, Rhode Island could experience 9 feet

of sea level rise by 2100, along with substantial increase in the frequency of nuisance

tidal flooding. 5 7

61.

Rhode Island's topography, geography, and land use patterns make it pa1ticularly

susceptible to injuries from sea level rise. Rhode Island has substantial public assets in 21 coastal

Climate Central, Sea Level Rise Upping Ante on 'Sunny Day ' Floods (Oct. 1 7, 201 6),

http ://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-increases-sunny-day-floods-20784.

53 Peter U. Clark et al., supra note 44, at 364.

54Rhode Island Sea Grant et al., Sea Level Rise in Rhode Island: Trends and Impacts, 2 (Jan

2013) http://www.beachsamp.org/wp-content/uploads/201 6/09/climate_SLR_factsheet201 3. pdf

55 Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Climate Change and Resiliency Report, 10

(2015), http: //health.ri.gov/publications/reports/ClimateChangeAndHealthResiliency. pdf.

Resilient Rhody: Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy, 1 2 (July 2018).

5 7 Id.

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municipalities along its 400 miles of coastline.58 Twenty Rhode Island municipalities have acreage

lying below the floodplain.59

62.

Without Defendants' fossil fuel-related greenhouse gas pollution, cunent sea level

rise would have been far less than the observed sea level rise to datc.60 Similarly, committed sea

level rise that will occur in the future would also be far Jess.61

Warming Air Temperatures-Known Causes and Observed Effects

63.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are impairing the radiation of heat back

into the atmosphere. This is slowly driving up temperatures, especially nighttime lows, as the

concentration of greenhouse gases thickens.62

64.

As the Earth's surface temperature waims, there is not only an overall increase in

average temperature but also in frequency of extremely waim temperatures, co1Tesponding with a

decrease in frequency of extremely cold temperatures. The following graph illustrates the

statistical shift in expected average and extreme temperatures due to anthropogenic

global warming.63

Final Repo1t: "Special House Commission to Study Economic Risk Due to Flooding and Sea

Level Riset 6, 3 2 (May 12, 201 6),

http: //www.rilin.state.ri.us/commissions/fsrcomm/commdocs/201605 l 2%20Economic%20Risk

%20Due%20to%20F1ooding%20and%20Sea%20Level%20Rise%20-%20final.pdf.

Id. at 6.

Robert E. Kopp et al., Temperature-driven Global Sea-level Variability in the Common Era,

1 1 3 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, No. 1 1 , E1434-E1441, E1438

(201 6), http://www.pnas.org/content/l l 3/l l /E l 434.full.

Peter U. Clark et al., supra note 44, at 365.

IPCC, Thomas F. Stocker et al., Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, supra note

48.

63 IPCC, Fourth Assessm.

ent Report: Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The Physical

Science, Basis Box TS.5, Figure 1, https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ai·4/wg1 /en/box

ts-5-figure-l.htm1.

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Fig. 5: Effect of Mean Temperature on Extreme Temperature Occurrence

Increase in Average

(1)

�

Current

Climate

Extreme Hot

Weather

Less

Extreme C Id

Weath r

Cold

65.

Hot

Weather

Average

Hot

Record-breaking high temperatures are now outnumbering record lows by an

average decadal ratio of 2:1 across the United States.64 This represents an increase from

approximately 1.09 high temperature records for every one low temperature record in the 1950s,

and 1.36 high temperature records for every one low temperature record in the 1990s.65

66.

Rhode Island has already begun experiencing a substantial increase in extreme heat

days. As the figure below shows, 1950s and 1960s, an average swnmer included 54 days with a

heat index above 80 degrees. By the I 990s and 2000s, that average had climbed to nearly 64 days.

In 2010 through 2014, that number rose to 7 1 days above 80 degrees. 66

64 Gerald A. Meehl et al., Relative Increase ofRecord High Maximum Temperatures Compared

to Record Low Minimum Temperatures in the US. , GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 123701

at 3 (2009).

65 See Climate Signals, Record High Temps vs. Record Low Temps (last accessed June 27, 2018),

http://www.climatesignals.org/data/record-high-temps-vs-record-low-temps.

66 "Number of 80°

-plus days rising steadily in RI/' BROWN UNIVERSITY NEWS (Sept. 8, 2015),

https ://news.brown. edu/ aiiicles/2015/09/temperature.

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Fig. 6: Number of Extreme Heat Days Per Year in Rhode Island, 1950-2014

Number of Extromo Heat Days in RI by Yoar

Moxtmum Dally Heat lndo�

n :. 80- 00'F

CJ a 00-100•F

• 10 100·1=

59.2

�

52.6

51.4

64.4

62.4

56.2

55.6

2 40 -

20 .

Melissa £/lot/Brown University

67.

Heatwaves are prolonged periods with excessive ambjent temperatures, often (but

not necessarily) defined with reference to historical temperatures at a given locale. Since as early

as the 1 950s, increases jn the duration, jntensity, and especially the frequency of heatwaves have

been detected over many regions,6 7 including the eastern United States.68

68.

With future emissions, the annual average number of extreme heat days and heat

waves will continue to increase substantially. For instance, under a moderate rising emissions

scenario, the ratio of record high maximum to record low minimum temperatures in the United

S.E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick & P.B. Gibson, Changes in Regional Heatwave Characteristics as a

Function ofIncreasing Global Temperature, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7: 12256, 1 (20 1 7).

68 Noah. S. Diffenbaugh & Moestasim Ashfaq, Intensification of Hot Extremes in the United

States, 37 GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 115701 (20 1 0).

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States will continue to increase, reaching ratios of about 20: I by 2050, and roughly 50: 1 by 21 00.69

Even under a pathway of lower greenhouse gas emissions, average annual temperatures are

projected to most likely exceed historical record levels by the middle of the 2 1 st century.70

69.

Because of Rhode Island's urban infrastructure, increased temperatures will add to

the heat load of buildings and exacerbate existing urban heat islands, adding to the risks of high

ambient temperatures.

Disruption to the Hydrologic Cycle--Known Causes and Observed Effects

70.

The "hydrologic cycle" describes the temporal and spatial movement of water

through oceans, land, and the atmosphere. 7 1 "Evapotranspiration" is the process by which water

on the Earth's surface turns to vapor and is absorbed into the atmosphere. The vast majority of

evapotranspiration is due to the sun's energy heating water molecules, resulting in evaporation.72

Plants also draw water into the atmosphere from soil through transpiration. Volcanoes, sublimation

(the process by which solid water changes to water vapor), and human activity also contribute to

atmospheric moisture.73 As water vapor rises through the atmosphere and reaches cooler air, it

becomes more likely to condense and fa]l back to Earth as precipitation.

71 .

Upon reaching Earth's surface as precipitation, water may take several different

paths. It can be reevaporated into the atmosphere; seep into the ground as soil moisture or

69 Gerald A. Meehl et al., supra note 64, at 3.

70 NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance (Global Time

Series) (June 2017), https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/time-series/global/globe/land_ocean/ytd/

12/1 880-201 6.

7 1 NASA Eatih Observatory, The Water Cycle, (wcbpage) (accessed June 27, 201 8),

https ://earthobservatory.nasa. govIFeatures/Water/page1 .php.

72 See USGS, The Water Cycle: Evaporation (webpagc) (accessed J une 27, 2018),

https://water. usgs. gov/ edu/watercycleevaporation.html.

73 NASA Ea1ih Observatory, The Water Cycle, supra note 71 .

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groundwater; run off into rivers and streams; or stop temporar.ily as snowpack or ice. It is during

these phases, when water is available at or near the Earth's smface, that water is captured for use

by humans.

72.

Anthropogenic global warmmg caused by Defendants' fossil fuel products is

disrupting and will continue to disrupt the hydrologic cycle in Rhode Island by changing

evapotranspiration patterns.74 As the lower atmosphere becomes warmer, evaporation rates have

and will continue to increase, resulting in an increase in the amount of moisture circulating

throughout the lower atmosphere. As the Earth's surface temperature has increased, so has

evaporation. 75 For every 1 .8 °F of anthropogenic global warming, the atmosphere's capacity to hold

water vapor increases by 7%.76 Thus, anthropogenic global wamung has increased substantially

the total volume of water vapor in the atmosphere at any given time. 77

73.

An observed consequence of higher water vapor concentrations is a shift toward

increased frequency of intense precipitation events, mainly over land areas. Furthe1more, because

of warmer temperatures, more precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow. These changes affect

both the quantity and quality of water resources available to both human and ecological systems,

including in Rhode Island.

14 Id.

75 Id.

76 IPCC, Thomas F. Stocker et al., Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, supra note

48.

77 NASA Earth Observatory, The Water Cycle, supra note 71.

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74.

As a result of anthropogenic climate change, Rhode Island has experienced and will

experience increased precipitation extremes, leading to both increased frequency of intense

precipitation events and extremely dry periods.78

75.

Extreme Precipitation

Global wanning has contributed and will contribute to more intense and wetter

precipitation events, now and into the foture. Average annual precipitation in Providence, Rhode

Island, has increased by 0.4 inches per decade since 1895.79 Intense rainfall events (heaviest 1%

of all daily events from 1901 to 2012 in New England) increased 71% between 1958 and 2000.80

Climate models project that annual precipitation will continue to increase by up to three inches per

decade locally and that more precipitation will fall during intense storms. 8 1

76.

Over the past 80 years, Rhode Island has experienced a significant increase in both

flood frequency and flood severity. Along with most of southern New England, the State has

experienced a doubling of the frequency of flooding and an increase in the magnitude of flood

events. 82 Rhode Island experienced more extreme precipitation events between 2005 and 2014

than any prior decade in the State's history. 83

78 SafeWater RI, Ensuring Water for Rhode Island 's Future, 11 (July 2013), http://www.health.

ri.gov/publications/reports/201 3EnsuringSafeWaterForRhodelslandsFuture. pdf.

Radley Horton et al., CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS TN THE UNITED STATES, Ch. 16: Northeast

373 (2014),

http://s3.amazonaws.com/nca2014/low/NCA3_Fu1l_Rcport_16_Northeast_LowRes.pdf.

so Id.

81 Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, State ofNarragansett Bay and Its Watershed Summary

Report, 2 1 (2017), http://nbep.org/O l /wp-content/uploads/2017/1 O/State-of-Narragansett-Bay

and-Its-Watershed-Summary-Repo1i. pdf.

Resilient Rhody: Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy, supra note 56, at 1 5.

83 NOAA N ational Centers for Environmental Information, State Sum maries 149-Rl, "Rhode

Island, " l (2017), http://c1imatechange.ri.gov/documents/noaa-climate-rhode-island-state

summary .pdf.

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77.

Due to anthropogenic climate change, seasonality of precipitation will shift so that

more precipitation occurs during winter, as rain, and less during summer. 84

78.

Tropical cyclone rainfall rates will increase in the future due to anthropogenic

warming and accompanying increase in atmospheric moisture content. Models project an i ncrease

on the order of 10-15% for rainfall rates averaged within about 100 km of the storm for a 2°C

global warming scenario. The intensity of tropical cyclones will also increase

by l to 10% according to model projections for a 2°C global warmi.ng. 85 Increased intensity of

storms means that the destructive potential per storm increases.86

79.

Heavy precipitation events (defined as rainfall equal to or greater than the historical

95th percentile) will significantly increase in frequency at least through the year 2100.87

80.

Drought

Drought is a period of moisture deficit defined either by a deficiency in the amount

or timing of precipitation relative to a reference period ("meteorological drought"), or by a

shortage of water supply for specific human, ecological, or other uses ("hydrologic drought").

Drought originates from a deficiency in precipitation and/or an elevation of temperature (and

Nanagansett Bay Estuary Program, supra note 81, at 21.

Princeton University Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, "Global Wa1ming and

Hurricanes" (website) (last revised June 6, 2018), https: //www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-wanning

and-hurricancs.

86 d

Xiang Gao et al., 21st Century Changes in US. Heavy Precipitation F'requency Based on

Resolved Atmospheric Patterns, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change:

Report 302, 15 (2016).

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therefore evaporation) relative to normal conditions, resulting in a water sh01iage for an activity,

group, or ecological use.88

81.

As rising temperatures lead to greater rainfall variability, Rhode Island will begin

to experience more frequent seasonal droughts in the summer and fall.89

82.

As ammal rainfall concentrates jnto a shorter time span, the annual dry period is

growing longer, resulting in conditions of moisture deficiency over longer periods. Even in the

absence of substantial changes in average precipitation in the State, precipitation will fall in a

shorter time span and therefore be less susceptible to retention and use.

83.

Thus, future droughts in the State will be more severe than historical droughts, with

an attendant exacerbation of drought impacts.

Ocean Warming and Acidification-Known Causes and Observed Effects

84.

The ocean has played an unparalleled role in response to climate change, storing

approximately 93% of tbe excess heat energy over the last 50 yea.rs.90

85.

As the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations . increase, the water in

Narragansett Bay is getting wa.imer and more acidic. Over the past 50 yea.rs, the average surface

temperature of the Bay has increased 1 .4° to l.6° C (2.5 ° to 2.9°F). Winter water temperatures in

the Bay have increased even more, from 1.6° to 2.0 °C (2.9° to 3.6° F). 9 1

88 See, e.g. , Donald A. Wilhite & Michael H. Glantz, Understanding the Drought Phenomenon:

The Role ofDefinitions, Drought Mitigation Center Faculty Publications 20 (1985)

Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Climate Change and Resiliency Report,

supra note 5 5 , at 1 0.

90 IPCC, Observations: Oceans, Ch. 3 260, https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment

report/ar5/wg1 /WG1AR5_Chapter03_FINAL.pdf.

R.W. Fulweiler et al., Whole truths vs. ha(ftruths - And a search/or clarity in long-term water

temperature records, J 57 ESTUARTNE, COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE Al-A6 (May 2015),

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771 41 5000426.

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86.

Due to increased water temperatures among other factors, iconic cold-water fishery

S\)ecies such as cod, red hake, and winter flounder are being increasingly displaced by scup and

black sea bass. Overtime, Narragansett Bay is expected to increasingly resemble that of a more

southerly, mid-Atlantic estuary with associated shifts io species that are iconic in southern New

England's culture.92

87.

Uptake of carbon dioxide is also causing changes to ocean chemistry, including in

Nanagansett Bay, by changing the pH to be more acidic. 93 Ocean acidification, is expected to

continue as global warming progresses.94 Increased ocean acidity makes the formation and

maintenance of shells and other calcareous structure by bivalves and other shellfish more

energetically expensive or even impossible.95

Public Health Impacts of Anthropogenic Global Warming

88.

Sea level rise, increased air temperatures and changes to the hydrologic cycle

associated with antlU'opogenic climate change have resulted and will result in public health impacts

for the state of Rhode Island.

89.

Extreme weather events, such as hunicanes and inland flooding, have immediate

health consequences, including danger to personal safety and longer-term consequences, including

social and economic disruption, population displacement, and mental trauma. 96

Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, supra note 8 1 , at 24.

Id at 45.

94 Id.

95 Id.

at 46.

96 Resilient Rhody: Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy, supra note 56, at 63.

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90.

Extreme heat-induced public health impacts in the State will result in increased risk

of heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and dehydration, increased hospitalizations,

and death. 97

91.

Increased heat also intensifies the photochemical reactions that produce smog,

ground level ozone, and fine parti culate matter (PM2.5), which contribute to and exacerbate

respiratory disease in children and adults. Increased heat and CO2 enhance the growth of plants

that produce pollen, which are associated with allergies.98

92.

In addition, the warming climate system will create disease-related public health

impacts in the State, including but not limited to, increased incidence of cyanobacteria blooms

(toxic alga) in aquatic systems and vector-borne disease with migration of animal and insect

disease vectors. 99

93.

Public health impacts of these climatological changes are likely to be

disproportionately borne by communities made vulnerable by geographic, racial, or

income disparities.

Attribution

94.

"Carbon factors' 1 analysis, devised by the International Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC), the United Nations International Energy Agency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, quantifies the amount of CO2 emissions attributable to a unit of raw fossil fuel extracted

from the Eaith. 100 Emissions factors for oil, coal, liquid natural gas, and natural gas are different

Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Climate Change and Resiliency Report,

supra note 55, at 1 4.

98 Id. at 25-26.

99 Resilient Rhody: Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy, supra note 56, at 15.

LOO

See Richard Heede, Tracing Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions to Fossil

Fuel and Cement Producers, 1 854-2010, 1 22 CLIMATCC CHANGE 229, 232-33 (201 4).

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for each material but are nevertheless known and quantifiable for each. 101 This analysis accounts

for the use of Defendants' fossil fuel products, including non-combustion purposes that sequester

CO2 rather than emit it (e.g., asphalt production).

95.

Defendants' historical and cunent fossil fuel extraction and production records are

publicly available in various fora. These include university and public library collections, company

websites, company reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, company

histories, and other sow-ces. The cumulative CO2 and methane emissions attributable to

Defendants'

fossil

fuel products

were

calculated by reference

to such publicly

available documents.

96.

Cumulative carbon analysis allows an accurate calculation of net annual CO2 and

methane emissions attributable to each Defendant by quantifying the amount and type of fossil

fuels products each Defendant extracted and placed into the stream of commerce, and multiplying

those quantities by each fossil fuel product's carbon factor.

97.

Defendants, through their extraction, promotion, marketing, and sale of their fossil

fuel products, caused over 1 4.5% of global fossil fuel product-related CO2 between 1 965 and 20 1 5,

with contributions currently contilming unabated. This constitutes a substantial portion of all such

emissions in history, and the attendant historical, projected, and committed sea level rise and

disruptions to the hydrologic cycle associated therewith.

98.

By quantif-ying CO2 and methane pollution attributable to Defendants by and

through their fossil fuel products, ambient air and ocean temperature, sea level, and hydrologic

cycle responses to those emissions are also calculable, and can be attributed to Defendants on an

individual and aggregate basis. Individually and collectively, Defendants' through their control of

101 S

ee, e.g. , z'd

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the extraction, sale, and promotion of their fossil fuel products are responsible for substantial

increases in ambient (surface) temperature, ocean temperature, sea level, droughts, extreme

precipitation events, heat waves, and other adverse impacts on Rhode Island described herein.

99.

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused a substantial portion of both observed

and committed mean global sea level rise. 1 02

100.

Anthropogenic CO2 emjssions have caused and will continue to cause increased

maximum temperature extremes relative to the historical baseline. 103

101.

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused and will continue to cause increases in

daily precipitation extremes over land. 104

102.

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused and will continue to cause increased

frequency and severity of droughts. 105

103.

Defendants, through their extraction, promotion, marketing, and sale of their fossil

fuel products, caused a substantial portion of both those emissions and the attendant historical,

projected, and committed sea level rise and other consequences of the resulting climatic changes

described herein, including increased incidences of extreme temperatures and extreme

weather events.

1 04.

As explained above, this analysis considers only the volume of raw material

actually extracted from the Earth by these Defendants. Many of these Defendants actually are

responsible for far greater volumes of emissions because they also refine, manufacture, produce,

102 Peter U. Clark et al., supra note 44, at 365.

103 Id.

See, e.g., E.M. Fischer & R. Knutti, Anthropogenic Contribution to Global Occurrence of

Heavy-Precipitation and High-Temperature Extremes, 5 NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE 560-64

(20 1 5).

105 Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Climate Change and Resiliency Report,

supra note 55, at 10.

104

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market, promote, and sell more fossil fuel derivatives than they extra.ct themselves by purchasing

fossil fuel products extracted by independent third parties.

105.

In addition, considering the Defendants' lead role in promoting, marketing, and

selling their fossil fuels products between 1 965 and 20 1 5; their efforts to conceal the hazards of

those products from consumers; their promotion of their fossil fuel products despite knowing the

dangers associate with those products; their dogged campaign against regulation of those products

based on falsehoods, omissions, and deceptions; and. their failure to p ursue less hazardous

alternatives available to them, Defendants, individually and together, have substantially and

measurably contributed to the State's climate change-related injuries.

Defendants Went to Great Lengths to Understand the Hazards Associated

with, and Knew or Should Have Known of the Dangers Associated with the

Extractfon, Promotion, and Sale of Their Fossil Fuel Products.

106.

By 1 965, concern about the risks of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions

reached the highest level of the United States' scientific community. In that year, President Lyndon

B. Johnson's Science Advisory Committee Panel on Environmental Pollution reported that by the

year 2000, anthropogenic CO2 emissions would "modify the heat balance of the atmosphere to

such an extent that marked changes in climate . . . could occur." 106 President Johnson announced

in a special message to Congress that "[t]his generation has altered the composition of the

atmosphere on a global scale through . . . a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of

fossil fuels." 107

106

President's Science Advisory Committee, Restoring the Quality of Our Environment: Report

ofthe Environmental Pollution Panel, 9 (Nov. 1 965), https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc l .b43 1 5 678.

107

President Lyndon B. Johnson, Special Message to Congress on Conservation and Restoration

ofNatural Beauty (Feb. 8, 1 965), http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/items/show/292.

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1 07.

These statements from the Johnson Administration, at a minimum, put Defendants

on notice of the potentially substantial dangers to people, comm1uuties, and the planet associated

with unabated use of their fossil fuel products. Moreover, Defendants had amassed a considerable

body of knowledge on the subject through their own independent efforts.

1 08.

A 1 963 Conservation Foundation report on a conference of scientists referenced in

the 1 966 World Book Encyclopedia, as well as in presidential panel reports and other sources

around that time, described many specific consequences of rising levels of greenhouse gas

pollution in the atmosphere. It warned that a doubling of carbon dioxide "could be enough to bring

about immense flooding of lower po1tions of the world's land surface, resulting from increased

melting of glaciers." The publication also asserted that "a continuing rise in the amount of

atmospheric carbon dioxide is likely to be accompanied by a signi ficant warming of the surface of

the earth which by melting the polar ice caps would raise sea level and by warming the oceans

would change considerably the distributions of marine species including commercial fisheries." It

wamed of the potential inundation of "many densely settled coastal areas, including the cities of

New York and London" and the possibility of "wiping out the world's present commercial

fisheries." The report, in fact, noted that "the changes in marine life in the North Atlantic which

accompanied the temperature change have been very noticeable". 108

1 09.

But industry interest in carbon accumulation goes back at least to 1 958. A review

in that year of the American Petrolewn Institute ("API") Smoke and Fumes Committee's Air

Pollution Research Program by Charles Jones (the committee secretary and Shell executive),

108

The Conservation Foundation, Implications ofRising Carbon Dioxide Content ofthe

Atmosphere: A statement of trends and implications of carbon dioxide research reviewed at a

conference ofscientists (Mar. 1 963 ),

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.3901 50046 1 9030.

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mentions a project focused on analyzing gaseous carbon data to determine the amount of carbon

of fossil origin compared to the total amount. 109

110.

At that point in time API' s stance was that "the petroleum industry supplies the fuel

used by the automobile, and thus has a sincere interest in the solution to the problem of pollution

from automobile exhaust," according to an API presentation at the 1 958 National Conference on

Air Pollution. API acknowledged the industry's responsibility in mitigating some of the negative

impacts of its products, stating that the objective of its Smoke and Fumes committee was to

"determine the causes and methods of control of objectional atmospheric pollution resulting from

the production, manufacture, transportation, sale, and use of petroleum and its products." 1 1 0

1 1 1.

In 1 968, a Stanford Research Institute ("SRI") report commissioned by the API and

made available to all its members, concluded, among other things:

If the Earth's temperature increases significantly, a number of events might be

expected to occur including the melting of the Antarctic ice cap, a rise in sea levels,

warming of the oceans and an increase in photosynthesis. . . .

It is clear that we are unsure as to what our long-lived pollutants are doing to our

environment; however, there seems to be no doubt that the potential damage to our

environment could be severe. . . . [T]he prospect for the future must be of serious

concern. 1 1 1

112.

In a supplement to the 1968 report prepared for API in 1 969, authors Robinson and

Robbins projected that based on current fuel usage, atmospheric CO2 concentrations would reach

Charles A. Jones, A Review of the Air Pollution Research Program of the Smoke and Fumes

Committee of the American Petroleum Institu.te, JOURNAL OF THE AlR POLLUTION CONTROL

ASSOCIATION (1958), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00966665.1958.1 0467854.

! JO C.A. Jones, Sources of Air Pollution - Transportation (Petrolewn) (Nov. 19, 1958),

https://www. industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf. edu/tobacco/docs/#id=xrcm0047.

111

Elmer Robinson & R.C. Robbins, Sources, Abundance, and Fate of Gaseous Atmospheric

Pollutants, Stanford Research Institute (Feb. 1968),

https://www.smokeandfumes.org/documents/document 1 6.

109

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370 ppm by 2000 1 1 2-aJmost exactly what it turned out to be (369.34 ppm, according to data from

NASA). 1 13 The repo1t also draws the c01mcction between the rising concentration and the use of

fossil fuels stating that "balance between environmental sources and sinks has been disturbed by

the emission to the atmosphere of additional CO2 from the i ncreased combustion of carbonaceous

fuels" and that it seemed "unlikely that the observed rise in atmospheric CO2 has been due to

changes in the biosphere." The authors warn repeatedly of the temptations and consequences of

ignoring CO2 as a problem and pollutant:

CO2 is so common and such an integral part of all our activities that air pollution

regulations typically state that CO2 emissions are not to be considered as pollutants.

This is perhaps fortunate for our present mode of living, centered as it i s around

carbon combustion. However, this seeming necessity, the CO2 emission, is the only

air pollutant, as we shall see, that has been shown to be of global importance as a

fa?tor. tha� CO�d C?,anfe man's environment on the basis of a long period of

sc1ent1fic mvestigat10n. 14

113.

In 1969, Shell memorialized an on-going 1 8-month project to collect ocean data

from oil platforms to develop and caJibrate environmental forecasting theories related to predicting

wave, wind, storm, sea level, and cun-ent changes and trends. 1 1 5 Severa] Defendants and/or their

predecessors in interest participated in the project, including Esso Production Research Company

(ExxonMobil), Mobil Research and Development Company (ExxonMobil), Pan American

Petroleum Corporation (BP), Gulf Oil Corporation (Chevron), Texaco Inc. (Chevron), and the

Chevron Oil Field Research Company (Chevron).

1 1 2 Elmer Robinson & R.C. Robbins, Sources, Abundance, and Fate of Gaseous Atmospheric

Pollutants Supplement, Stanford Research Institute (June 1969).

1 13 "Global Mean CO2 Mixing Ratios (ppm): Observations," NASA Goddard Institute for Space

Studies, htips: // data.gi ss.nasa. gov/modelforce/ghgases/Fi g 1A ext.txt (wcbpagc) (accessed June

16, 2018).

1 1 4 Elmer Robinson & R.C. Robbins, supra note 1 1 2.

1 15 M.M. Patterson, A n Ocean Data Gathering Programfor the Gulf of Mexico, Society of

Peu:oleum Engineers (1969), https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-2638-MS.

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1 1 4.

In. a 1 970 report by H.R. Holland from the Engineering Division of Imperial Oil

(Exxon), he stated: "Since pollution means disaster to the affected species, the only satisfactory

f reign matter at such levels that it

course of action is to prevent it - to maintain the addition of o

can be diluted, assimilated or destroyed by natural processes - to protect man's environment from

man." He also noted that "a problem of such size, complexity and importance cannot be dealt with

on a voluntary basis." CO2 was listed as an air pollutant in the document. 1 1 6

115.

In 1972, API members, including Defendants, received a status report on all

environmental research projects funded by APL The report summarized the 1 968 SRI report

describing the impact of fossil fuel products, including Defendants', on the environment, including

global warming and attendant consequences. Defendants and/or their predecessors in interest that

received this report include, but were not limited to: American Standard of Indiana (BP), Asiatic

(Shell), Ashland (Marathon), Atlantic Richfield (BP), British Petroleum (BP), Chevron Standard

of California (Chevron), Cities Service (Citgo), Esso Research (ExxonMobil), Ethyl (formerly

affiliated with Esso, which was subsumed by ExxonMobil), Getty (ExxonMobil), Gulf (Chevron,

among others), Humble Standard of New Jersey (ExxonMobil/Chevron/BP), Marathon, Mobil

(ExxonMobil), Pan American (BP), Shell, Standard of Ohio (BP), Texaco (Chevron), Union

(Chevron), Skelly (ExxonMobil), Colonial Pipeline ( ownership has included BP, Citgo,

ExxonMobil, and Chevron entities, among others) and Caltex (Chevron). 1 1 7 Other members of the

fossil fuel industry that received the report include, but were not limited to, Continental

(ConocoPhillips), Dupont (former owner of Conoco), Phillips (ConocoPhillips), Sun (Sunoco),

1 16

H.R. Holland, Pollution is Everybody 's Business, Imperial Oil (1970),

https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/:files/DeSmogBlog

Imperial%200il%20Archive-Pollution-Everyone-Business- l 970 .pdf.

1 1 7 American PetJ:oleum Institute, Environmental Research, A Status Report, Committee for Air

and Water Conservation (January 1 972), http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED066339.pdf.

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Rock Island (Koch Industries), Signal (Honeywell), Great Northern, Edison ElectTic Institute

(representing electric utilities), Bituminous Coal Research (coal industry research group), Mid

Continent Oil & Gas Association (presently the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, a national tTade

association), Western Oil & Gas Association, National Petroleum Refiners Association (presently

the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association, a national trade association),

and Champlin (Anadarko), among others. 1 1 8

1 1 6.

In a 1977 presentation and again in a 1978 briefing, Exxon scientists warned the

Exxon Corporation Management Committee that CO2 concentrations were building in the Earth's

atmosphere at an increasing rate, that CO2 emissions attributable to fossil fuels were retained in

the atmosphere, and that CO2 was contributing to global wanning. 119 The repo1i stated:

There is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner i n which mankind

is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the bwning

of fossil fuels . . . [and that] Man has a time window of five to ten years before the

need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategies might

become critical. 1 20

117.

One presentation slide read: "Current scientific opinion overwhelmingly favors

attributing atmospheric carbon dioxide increase to fossil fuel combustion." 1 2 1 The report also

warned that "a study of past climates suggests that if the earth does become warmer, more rainfall

should result. But an increase as large as 2°C would probably also affect the distribution of the

rainfall." Moreover, the report concluded that "doubling in CO2 couJd increase average global

1 18

1 19 Memo from J.F . Black to F.G. Turpin, The Greenhouse Effect, Exxon Research and

Engineering Company (June 6, 1 978), http://www.climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/1978-exxon

memo-on-greenhouse-effect-for-exxon-corporation-management-committee.

1 20 Id.

1 2 1 Id.

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temperature 1 °C to 3° C by 2050 A.D. (10° C predicted at poles).''1 22

11 8.

Thereafter, Exxon engaged in a research program to study the environmental fate

of fossil fuel-derived greenhouse gases and their impacts, which included publication of peer

reviewed research by Exxon staff scientists and the conversion of a supertanker into a research

vessel to study the greenhouse effect and the role of the oceans in absorbing anthropogenic CO2.

Much of this research was shared i n a variety of fora, symposia, and shared papers through trade

associations and directly with other Defendants.

1 1 9.

Exxon scientists made the case internally for using company resources to build

corporate knowledge about the impacts of the promotion, marketing, and consumption of

Defendants' fossil fuel products. Exxon climate researcher Hemy Shaw wrote in 1978: "The

rationale for Exxon's involvement and commitment of funds and perso1U1el is based on our need

to assess the possible impact of the greenhouse effect on Exxon business. Exxon must develop a

credible scientific team that can critically evaluate the information generated on the subject and be

able to carry bad news, if any, to the corporation." 1 23 Moreover, Shaw emphasized the need to

collaborate with universities and government to more completely understand what he called the

"CO2 problem.'' 124

120.

In 1 979, API and its members, including Defendants, convened a Task Force to

monitor and share cutting edge climate research among the oil industry. The group was initially

called the CO2 and Climate Task Force, but changed its name to the Climate and Energy Task

1 22 Id.

1 23 Henry Shaw, Memo to Edward David .Tr. on the "Greenhouse Effect, Exxon Research and

Engineering Company (Dec. 7, 1 978),

http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/files/documents/Credible%20Scientific%20Team%201

978%20Letter.pdf.

124 Id.

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Force in 1 980 (hereinafter referred to as "API CO2 Task Force"). Membership included senior

scientists and engineers from nearly every major U.S. and multinational oil and gas company,

including Exxon, Mobil (ExxonMobil), Amoco (BP), Phillips (ConocoPhillips), Texaco

(Chevron), Shell, Sunoco, Sohio (BP) as well as Standard Oil of California (BP) and Gulf Oil

(Chevron), among others. The Task Force was charged with assessing the implications of emerging

science on the petroleum and gas industries and identifying where reductions in greenhouse gas

emissions from Defendants' fossil fuel products could be made. 1 25

1 21.

In 1 979, AP! sent its members a background memo related to the API CO2 and

Climate Task Force's efforts, stating that CO2 concentrations were rising steadily in the

atmosphere, and predicting when the first clear effects of climate change might be felt. 1 26

1 22.

Also in 1979, Exxon scientists advocated internally for additional fossil fuel

industry-generated atmospheric research in light of the growing consensus that consumption of

fossil fuel products was changing the Earth's climate:

We should determine how Exxon can best participate in all these [ atmospheric

science research] areas and influence possible legislation on environmental

controls. It is important to begin to anticipate the strong intervention of

environmental groups and be prepared to respond with reliable and credible data. It

behooves [Exxon] to start a very aggressive defensive program in the indicated

areas of atmospheric science and climate because there is a good probability that

legislation affecting our business will be passed. Clearly, it is in our interest for

such legislation to be based on hard scientific data. The data obtained from research

1 25American Petroleum Institute, AQ-9 Task F01·ce Meeting Minutes (March 18, 1980),

http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/ files/documents/AQ9%20Task%20Force%20Meeting%20%28 1 980%29.pdf (AQ-9 refers to the "CO2 and Climate"

Task Force).

1 26 Neela B ane,j ee, Exxon 's Oil Industry Peers Knew About Climate Dangers in the 1970s, Too,

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS (Dec. 22, 201 5), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22122015/exxon

mobil-oil-industry-peers-k.new-about-climate-change-dangers-1970s-american-petroleum

institute-api-shell-chevron-texaco.

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on the global damage from pollution, e.g., from coal combustion, will give us the

needed focus for further research to avoid or control such pollutants. 127

1 23.

That same year, Exxon Research and Engineering repo1ted that: "The most widely

held theory [about increasing CO2 concentration] is that the increase is due to fossil fuel

combustion, increasing CO2 concentration will cause a wanning of the earth's surface, and the

present trend of fossil fuel consumption will cause dramatic environmental effects before the year

2050." 128 According to the report, "ecological consequences of increased CO2" to 500 ppm (1.7

times 1 850 levels) could mean: "a global temperature increase of 3 °F; '"'the southwest states would

be hotter, probably by more than 3 °F, and drier;" "most of the glaciers in the North Cascades and

Glacier National Park would be melted;" "there would be less of a winter snow pack in the

Cascades, Sierras, and Rockies, necessitating a major increase in storage reservoirs;" "marine life

would be markedly changed;" and "maintaining runs of salmon and steelhead and other subarctic

species in the Columbia River system would become increasingly difficult." 129 With a doubling of

the 1 860 CO2 concentration, "ocean levels would rise four feet" and "the Arctic Ocean would be

ice free for at least six months each year, causing major shifts in weather patterns in the

northern hemisphere." 130

1 24.

Further, the report stated that unless fossil fuel use was constrained, there would be

"noticeable temperature changes" associated with an increase in atmospheric CO2 from about 280

127 Henry Shaw, Exxon Memo to IiN. Weinberg about ''Research in Atmospheric Science",

Exxon Inter-Office Conespondence (Nov. 19, 1 979), https://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/

files/documents/Probable%20Legislation%20Memo%20( 1 979).pdf.

128 W.L. Ferrall, Exxon Memo to R.L. Hirsch about "Controlling Atmospheric CO2 '', Exxon

Research and Engineering Company (Oct. 16, 1 979), http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/

files/documents/C02%20and%20Fuel%20Use%20Projections.pdf.

129 Id.

130 d.

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parts per million before the Industrial Revolution to 400 parts per million by the year 2 0 1 0. 13 1

Those projections proved remarkably accurate-atmospheric CO2 concentrations surpassed 400

parts per million in May 20 1 3 , for the first time in millions of years. 13 2 In 201 5, the annual average

CO2 concentration rose above 400 pru.is per million, and in 2016 the annual low surpassed 400

parts per million, meaning atmospheric CO2 concentration remained above that threshold

all year. 133

1 25 .

In 1 980, API's CO2 Task Force members discussed the oil industry's responsibility

to reduce CO2 emissions by changing refining processes and developing fuels that emit less CO2.

The minutes from the Task Force's February 29, 1 980, meeting included a summary of a

presentation on "The CO2 Problem" given by Dr. John Laurmann, which identified the "scientific

consensus on the potential for large future climatic response to increased CO2 levels" as a reason

for API members to have concern with the "CO2 problem,, and infonned attendees that there was

"strong empirical evidence that rise [in CO 2 concentration was] caused by anthropogenic release

of CO2, mainly from fossil fuel combustion. "134 Moreover, Dr. Lau1mann warned that the amount

of CO2 in the atmosphere could double by 2038, which he said would likely lead to a 2.5 ° C (4.5 °F)

rise in global average temperatures with "major economic consequences." He then told the Task

Force that models showed a 5 ° C (9°F) rise by 2067, with "globally catastrophic effects." 135 A

131 Id

1 32 Nicola Jones, How the World Passed a Carbon Threshold and Why it Matters, YALE

ENVIRONMENT 360 (Jan. 26, 201 7), http://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-world-passed-a

carbon-threshold-400ppm-and-why-it-matters.

133 Id.

134 American Petrolewn Institute, AQ-9 Task Force Meeting Minutes (Mar. 1 8, 1 980),

http://insideclimatenews.org/ sites/default/files/documents/AQ-9%20Task%2 OForce%20

Meeting%20%28 1 980%29.pdf (AQ-9 refers to the "CO2 and Climate" Task Force).

13s d.

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taskforce member and representative of Texaco (Chevron) leadership present at the meeting

posited that the API CO2 Task Force should develop ground rules for energy release of fuels and

the cleanup of fuels as they relate to CO2 creation.

1 26.

In 1 980, the API CO2 Task Force also discussed a potential area for investigation:

alternative energy sources as a means of mitigating CO2 emissions from Defendants' fossil fuel

products. These efforts called for research and development to "Investigate the Market Penetration

Requirements oflntroducing a New Energy Source into World Wide Use." Such investigation was

to include the technical implications of energy source changeover, research timing,

and requirements. 136

1.27.

By 1980, Exxon's senior leadership had become intimately familiar with the

greenhouse effect and the role of CO2 in the atmosphere. In that year, Exxon Senior Vice President

and Board member George Piercy questioned Exxon researchers on the minutiae of the ocean's

role in absorbing atmospheric CO2, including whether there was a net CO2 flux out of the ocean

into the atmosphere in ce1tai11 zones where upwelling of cold water to the surface occurs, because

Piercy evidently believed that the oceans could absorb and retain higher concentrations of CO2

than the atmosphere. 137 This inquiry aligns with Exxon supertanker research into whether the

ocean would act as a significant CO2 sink that would sequester atmospheric CO2 long enough to

allow unabated emissions without triggering dire climatic consequences. As described below,

136 Id.

1 37 Neela Banerjee, More Exxon Documents Show How Much It Knew About Climate 35 Years

Ago, lNSJDE CLIMATE NEWS (Dec. 1 , 20 1 5), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/0 1 1 220 1 5/

documents-exxons-early-co2-position-senior-executives-engage-and-watming-forecast.

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Exxon eventually discontinued this research before it produced enough data from which to derive

a conclusion. 138

128.

Also in 1980, Imperial Oil (ExxonMobil) reported to Esso and Exxon managers

and environmental staff that increases in fossil fuel usage aggravates CO2 in the atmosphere.

Noting that the United Nations was encouraging research into the carbon cycle, Imperial reported

that "[t]echnology exists to remove CO2 from [fossil fuel power plant] stack gases but removal of

only 50% of the CO2 would double the cost of power generation."

1 29.

Exxon scientist Roger Cohen warned his colleagues in a 1981 internal

memorandwn that "future developments in global data gathering and analysis, along with advances

in climate modeling, may provide strong evidence for a delayed CO2 effect of a truly substantial

magnitude," and that under ce1tain circumstances it would be "very likely that we will

unambiguously recognize the threat by the year 2000.,, 139 Cohen had expressed concern that the

memorandum mischaracterized potential effects of unabated CO2 emissions from Defendants'

fossil fuel products: ". . . it is distinctly possible that the . . . [Exxon Planning Division's] scenario

will produce effects which will indeed be catastrophic (at least for a substantial fraction of the

world's population)." 140

138 Neela Bane1jee et al., Exxon Believed Deep Dive into Climate Research Would Protect Its

Business, INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS (Sept. 1 7, 2015), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/1609201 5/

exxon-believed-deep-dive-into-climate-research-would-protect-its-business.

1 3 9 Roger W. Cohen, Exxon Memo to W. Glass about possible "catastrophic " effect of CO2,

Exxon Inter-Office Correspondence (Aug. 1 8, 1 981), http://www.climatefiles.com/cxxonmobil/

1981 -exxon-memo-on-possible-emission-consequences-of-fossil-fuel-consumption.

140

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130.

In 1981, Exxon's Henry Shaw, the company's lead climate researcher at the time,

prepared a summary of Exxon's cuirent position on the greenhouse effect for Edward David Jr.,

president of Exxon Research and Engineering, stating in relevant part:

•

131.

"Atmospheric CO2 will double in 100 years if fossil fuels grow at 1.4%/a2 .

3 °C global average temperature rise and 10 °C at poles if CO2 doubles.

o Maj or shifts in rainfall/agriculture

o Polar ice may melt" 14 1.

In 1982, another report prepared for API by scientists at the Lamont-Doherty

Geological Observatory at Columbia University recognized that atmospheric CO2 concentration

had risen significantly compai·ed to the beginning of the industrial revolution from about 290 paiis

per million to about 340 parts per million in 1981 and acknowledged that despite differences in

climate modelers' predictions, all models indicated a temperature increase caused by

anthropogenic CO2 within a global mean range of 4°C (7.2° F). The report advised that there was

scientific consensus that "a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from [] pre-industrial revolution value

would result in an average global temperature rise of (3.0 ± l .5)° C [5.4 ± 2.7° F]." It went further,

warning that "[s] uch a wa1ming can have serious consequences for man's comfort and survival

since patterns of aridity and rainfall cai1 change, the height of the sea level can increase

considerably and the world food supply can be affected."142 Exxon's own modeling reseai·ch

confirmed this, and the company's results were later published in at least three peer-reviewed

Remy Shaw, Exxon Memo to E. E. David, Jr. about "C02Position Statement", Exxon Inter

Office Correspondence (May 15, 1981), https://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/files/

documents/Exxon%20Position%20on%20C02%20%28 l 98 l %29.pdf.

1 4 2 American Petroleum Institute, Climate Models and CO2 Warming: A Selective Review and

Summary, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory (Columbia University) (Mar. 1982),

https://assets.documentcloud. org/documents/2805626/19 82-API-Climate-Models-and-C02Warming-a.pdf.

141

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scientific papers. 143

1 32.

Also ii1 1 982, Exxon's Environmental Affairs Manager distributed a primer on

climate change to a "wide circulation [ ofJ Exxon management . . . intended to familiarize Exxon

personnel with the subject." 144 The primer also was "restricted to Exxon personnel and not to be

distributed extemally." 145 The primer compiled science on climate change available at the time,

and confirmed fossil fuel combustion as a primary anthropogenic contributor to global warming.

The report estimated a CO2 doubling around 2090 based on Exxon' s long-range modeled outlook.

The author warned that "uneven global distribution of increased rainfall and increased

evaporation" were expected to occur, and that "disturbances in the existing global water

distribution balance would have dramatic impact on soil moisture, and in turn, on agriculture." 146

1 33.

Moreover, the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet could result in global sea level rise

of five feet which would "cause flooding on much of the U.S. East Coast, including the State of

Florida and Washington, D.C." 147 Exxon's primer warned that "there are some potentially

catastrophic events that must be considered," including sea level rise from melting polar ice sheets.

It noted that some scientific groups were concerned "that once the effects are measurable, they

might not be reversible." 1 4 8

143 See Roger W. Cohen, Exxon Memo summarizingfindings of research in climate modeling,

Exxon Research and Engineering Company (Sept. 2, 1 982), https://insideclimatenews.org/sites/

default/filcs/documents/%2522Consensus%2522%20on%20C02%20Impacts%20(l 982).pdf

(discussing research articles).

144 M. B. Glaser, Exxon Memo to Management about "CO2 'Greenhouse ' Effect ", Exxon

Research and Engineering Company (Nov. 12, 1 982), http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/

files/documents/1 982%20Exxon%20Primer%20on%20C02%20Greenhouse%20Effect.pdf.

1 4s I

1 41

Id.

1 48

Id.

1 46 I

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134.

In a summary of Exxon's climate modeUng research from 1 982, Director of

Exxon's Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Laboratory Roger Cohen wrote that "the time

required for doubling of atmospheric CO2 depends on future world consumption of fossil fuels."

Cohen concluded that Exxon's own results were "consistent with the published predictions of more

complex climate models" and "in accord with the scientific consensus on the effect of increased

atmospheric CO2 on climatc." 149

1 35.

At the fourth biennial Maurice Ewing Symposium at the Lamont-Doherty

Geophysical Observatory in October 1 982, attended by members of API, Exxon Research and

Engineering Company president E.E. David delivered a speech titled: "Inventing the Future:

Energy and the CO2 ' Greenhouse Effect. "' 150 His remarks incJuded the following statement:

"[F]ew people doubt that the world has entered an energy transition away from dependence upon

fossil uels

and toward some mix of renewable resources that will not pose problems of CO2

accumulation." He went on, discussing the human opportunity to address anthropogenic climate

change before the point of no return:

It is ironic that the biggest uncertainties about the CO2 buildup are not in predicting

what the climate will do, but in predicting what people will do. . . . [It] appears we

still have time to generate the wealth and knowledge we will need to invent the

transition to a stable energy system.

136.

Throughout the early 1980s, at Exxon's direction, Exxon climate scientist Henry

Shaw forecasted emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel use. Those estimates were incorporated .into

Exxon's 21st century energy projections and were distributed among Exxon's various divisions.

149 Roger W. Cohen, Exxon Memo summarizing.findings ofresearch in climate modeling, supra

note 1 43.

1 50

E. E. David, Jr., Inventing the Future: Energy and the CO2 Greenhouse Effect: Remarks at

the Fourth Annual Ewing Symposium, Tenafly, NJ (1982),

http://sites.agu.org/publications/files/20 15/09/ch l . pdf.

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Shaw's conclusions included an expectation that atmospheric CO2 concentrations would double in

2090 per the Exxon model, with an attendant 2.3-5 .6°F average global temperature increase. Shaw

compared bis model results to those of the U.S. EPA, the National Academy of Sciences, and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, indicating that the Exxon model predicted a longer delay

than any of the other models, although its temperature increase prediction was in the mid-range of

the four projections. 151

1 3 7.

During the 1 980s, many Defendants formed their own research units focused on

climate modeling. The API, including the API CO 2 Task Force, provided a forum for Defendants

to share their research efforts and corroborate their findings related to anthropogenic greenhouse

gas emissions. 152

1 3 8.

During this time, Defendants' statements express an understanding of their

obligation to consider and mitigate the externalities of unabated promotion, marketing, and sale of

their fossil fuel products. For example, in 1 988, Richard Tucker, the president of Mobil Oil,

presented at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers National Meeting, the premier

educational forum for chemical engineers, where he stated:

[II] umanity, which has created the industrial system that has transformed civilities,

is also responsible for the environment, which sometimes is at risk because of

unintended consequences of industTjalization. . . . Maintaining the health of this

life-support system is emerging as one of the highest priorities. . . . [W]e must all

be environmentalists.

The environmental covenant requires action on many fronts . . . the low

atmosphere ozone problem, the upper-atmosphere ozone problem and the

151

Neela Banerjee, More Exxon Documents Show How Much It Knew About Climate 35 Years

Ago, INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS (Dec. 1, 201 5 ), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/0112201 5 /

documents-exxons-early-co2-position-senior-executives-engage-and-wa:rming-forecast.

152 NeeJa Banerjee, Exxon 's Oil Industry Peers Knew About Climate Dangers in the 1 970s, Too,

supra note 126.

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greenhouse effect, to name a few. . . . Our strategy must be to reduce pollution

before it is ever generated-to prevent problems at the source.

Prevention means engineering a new generation of fuels, lubricants and chemical

products. . . . Prevention means designing catalysts and processes that minimize

or eliminate the production of unwanted byproducts. . . . Prevention on a global

scale may even require a dramatic reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels

and a shift towards solar, hydrogen, and safe nuclear power. It may be possible

that-just possible-that the energy industry will transfo1m itself so completely

that observers will declare it a new industry. . . . Brute force, low-tech responses

and money alone won't meet the challenges we face in the energy industry. 153

139.

Also in 1988, the Shell Greenhouse Effect Working Group issued a confidential

internal report, "The Greenhouse Effect," which acknowledged global warming' s anthropogenic

nature: "Man-made carbon dioxide released into and accumulated in the atmosphere is believed to

warm the earth through the so-called greenhouse effect." The authors also noted the burning of

fossil fuels as a primary driver of CO2 buildup and warned that warming could "create significant

changes in sea level, ocean currents, precipitation patterns, regional temperature and weather."

f r "direct operational consequences" of sea

Taking it a step further, they pointed to the potential o

level rise on "offshore installations, coastal facilities and operations (e.g. platforms, harbours,

refineries, depots)." 154

1 40.

Similar to early warnings by Exxon scientists, the Shell report notes that "by the

time the global warming becomes detectable it could be too late to take effective countermeasures

to reduce the effects or even to stabilize the situation." The authors mention the need to consider

policy changes on multiple occasions, noting that "the potential implications for the world are... so

153 Richard E. Tucker, High Tech Frontiers in the Energy Industry: The Challenge Ahead,

AIChE National Meeting (Nov. 30, 1 988), https://hdl.handle.net/2027/purl .32754074119482

?mlappend=%3Bseq=522.

154 Greenhouse Effect Working Group, The Greenhouse Effect, Shell Internationale Petroleum,

30 (May 1 988), https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/44l l 090Documcnt3.html#document/p9/a4l 123 9.

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Large that policy options need to be considered much earlier" and that research should be "directed

more to the analysis of policy and energy options than to studies of what we will be facing exactly."

141.

In 1 989, Esso Resources Canada (ExxonMobil) commissioned a report on the

impacts of climate change on existing and proposed natural gas facilities in the Mackenzie River

Valley and Delta, including extraction facilities on the Beaufort Sea and a pipeline crossing

Canada's Northwest Territory. 155 It reported that "large zones of the Mackenzie Valley could be

affected dramatically by climatic change" and that "the greatest concern in Norman Wells [oil

town in North West Territories, Canada] should be the changes in permafrost that are likely to

occur under conditions of climate warming." The report concluded that, in light of climate models

showing a "general tendency towards warmer and wetter climate," operation of those facilities

would be compromised by increased precipitation, increase in air temperature, changes in

permafrost conditions, and significantly, sea level rise and erosion damage. The authors

recommended factoring these eventualities into future development planning and also warned that

"a rise in sea level could cause increased flooding and erosion damage on Richards Island. " 1 5 6

1 42.

In 1991, Shel] produced a film called "Climate of Concern." The film advises that

while "no two [climate change projection] scenarios fully agree, . . . [they] have each prompted

the same serious warning. A warning endorsed by a uniquely broad consensus of scientists in their

report to the UN at the end of 1 990." The warning was of an increasing frequency of abnormal

weather and of sea level rise of about one meter over the coming century. Shell specifically

described the impacts of anthropogenic sea level rise on tropical islands, "barely afloat even now,

155 Stephen Lonergan & Kathy Young, A n Assessment of the Effects of Climate Warming on

Energy Developments in the Mackenzie River Valley and Delta, Canadian Arctic, 7 ENERGY

EXPLORATION & EXPLOITATION 359-8 1 (Oct. 1 , 1 989), http://joumals.sagcpub.com/doi/abs/

1 0. l 1 77/01 4459878900700508.

1s6 Id.

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. . . [fJ irst made w1inhabitable and then obliterated beneath the waves. Wetland habitats destroyed

by intruding salt. Coastal lowlands suffering pollution of precious groundwater." It warned of

"greenhouse refugees," people who abandoned homelands inundated by the sea, or displaced

because of catastrophic changes to the environment. The video concludes with a stark admonition:

"Global warming is not yet certain, but many think that the wait for final proof would be

iITesponsjble. Action now is seen as the only safe insurance." 1 57

1 43.

The fossil fuel industry, including Defendants, was at the forefront of carbon

dioxide research for much of the latter half of the 201h century. They developed cutting edge and

innovative technology and worked with many of the field's top researchers to produce

exceptionally sophisticated studies and models. For instance, in the mid-nineties Shell began using

scenarios to plan how the company could respond to various global forces in the future. In one

scenario published in a 1 998 internal report, Shell paints an eerily prescient scene:

In 201 0, a series of violent storms causes extensive damage to the eastern coast of

the U.S. Although it is not clear whether the storms are caused by climate change,

people are not willing to take further chances. The insmance industry refuses to

accept liability, setting off a fierce debate over who is liable: the insw·ance industry

or the government. After all, two successive IPCC reports since 1 993 have

reinforced the human connection to climate change" . . . "Following the storms, a

coalition of environmental NGOs brings a class-action suit against the US

government and fossil-fuel companies on the grounds of neglecting what scientists

(including their own) have been saying for years: that something must be done. A

social reaction to the use of fossil fuels grows, and individuals become 'vigilante

environmentalists' in the san1e way, a generation earlier, they bad become fiercely

anti-tobacco. Direct-action campaigns against companies escalate. Young

consumers, especially, demand action 158

157 Jelmer Mommers, Shell Made a Film About Climate Change in 1991 ([hen Neglected To

Heed Its Own Warning), DE CORRESPONDENT (Feb. 27, 201 7), https://thecorrespondent.com/

6285/shell-made-a-film-about-climate-change-in-1 99 1 -then-neglected-to-heed-its-own

warning/692663565-87533 1 f6.

1 58

Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Group Scenarios 1998-2020, 1 1 5 ( 1 998),

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/443 0277-27-1 -Compiled.html.

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1 44.

Fossil fuel companies did not just consider climate change impacts in scenruios. In

the mid-1990s, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Imperial Oil (ExxonMobil) jointly undertook the Sable

Offshore Energy Project in Nova Scotia. The project's own Enviromnental Impact Statement

declared: "The impact of a global warming sea�levcl rise may be particularly significant in Nova

Scotia. The long-te1m tide gauge records at a number of locations along the N.S. coast have shown

sea level has been risjng over the past century. . . . For the design of coastal and offshore structures,

an estimated rise in water level, due to global warming, of 0.5 m [1.64 feet] may be assumed for

the proposed project life (25 years)." 159

1 45.

Climate change research conducted by Defendants and their industry associations

frequently acknowledged uncertainties in their climate modeling-those uncc1iainties, however,

were merely with respect to the magnitude and timing of climate impacts resulting from fossil fuel

consumption, not that significant changes would eventually occur. The Defendants' researchers

and the researchers at their industry associations harbored little doubt that climate change was

occuning and that fossil fuel products were, and are, the primru·y cause.

146.

Despite the overwhelming information about the threats to people and the planet

posed by continued unabated use of their fossil fuel products, Defendants failed to act as they

reasonably should have to mi tigate or avoid those dire adverse impacts. Defendants instead

adopted the position, as described below, that the absence of meaningful regulations on the

consumption of their fossil fuel products was the equivalent of a license to continue the pursuit of

profits from those products. This position was an abdication of Defendants' responsibility to

1 59

ExxonMobil, Sable Project, Development Plan, Volume 3 - Environmental Impact Statement

Ch 4: Environmental Setting, 4-77, http://soep.com/about-the-project/development-plan

application.

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consumers and the public, including the State , to act on their superior knowledge of the reasonably

foreseeable hazards of unabated production and consumption of their fossil fuel products.

Defendants Did Not Disclose Known Harms Associated with the Extraction,

Promotion, and Consumption of Their Fossil Fuel Products, and Instead

Affirmatively Acted to Obscure Those Harms and Engaged in a Concerted

Campaign to Evade Regulation.

147.

By 1 988, Defendants had amassed a compelling body of knowledge, unavailable to

the general public and the broader scientific community, about the role of anthropogenic

greenhouse gases and specifically those emitted from the normal use of Defendants' fossil fuel

products, in causing global wanning, disruptions to the hydrologic cycle, extreme precipitation

and drought, heatwaves, and associated consequences for human conununities and the

environment. On notice that their products were causing global climate change and dire effects on

the planet, Defendants were faced with the decision and were in control of whether to take steps

to limit the damages their fossil fuel products were causing and would continue to cause for

virtually every one of Earth's inhabitants, including the State of Rhode Island and its citizens.

148.

Defendants at any time before or thereafter could and reasonably should have taken

any of a number of steps to mitigate the damages caused by their fossil fuel products, and their

own comments reveal an awareness of what some of these steps may have been. Defendants should

have made reasonable warnings to consumers, the public, and regulators of the dangers known to

Defendants of the unabated consumption of their fossil fuel products, and they should have taken

reasonable steps to limit the potential gTeenhouse gas emissions arising out of their fossil

fuel products.

1 49.

But several key events during the period 1988-1 992 appear to have prompted

Defendants to change their course of action from general research and internal discussion on

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climate change to a public campaign aimed at evading regul ation of their fossil fu.el products and/or

emissions therefrom. These include:

a. In 1988, National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA") scientists

confirmed that human activities were actually contributing to global

wa:iming. 1 60 On June 23 of that year, NASA scientist James Hansen's

presentation of this information to Congress engendered significant news

coverage and publicity for the announcement, including coverage on the front

page of the New York Times.

b. On July 28, 1 988, Senator Robert Stafford and four bipartisan co-sponsors

introduced S. 2666, "The Global Environmental Protection Act," to regulate

CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Four more bipartisan bills to significantly

reduce CO2 pollution were introduced over the following ten weeks, and in

August, U.S. Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush pledged that his

presidency would "combat the greenhouse effect with the White House

effect." 161 Political will in the United States to reduce anthropogenic

greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the hru.ms associated with Defendants'

fossil fuel products was gaining momentum.

c. In December 1 988, the United Nations formed the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change ("IPCC"), a scientifi c panel dedicated to providing the

1 60

See Peter C. Frumhoff ct al., The Climate Responsibilities ofindustrial Carbon Producers,

1 32 CLIMATIC CHANGE 1 61 (2015).

161

N.Y. TlMES , The White House and the Greenhouse (May 9, 1998 ),

http://www.nythnes.com/1 989/05/09Iopinion/the-white-house-and-the-greenhouse.html.

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world's govemments with an objective, scientific analysis of climate change

and its environmental, political, and economic impacts.

d. In 1 990, the IPCC published its First Assessment Report on anthropogenic

climate change, 162 in which it concluded that (l) "there is a natural greenhouse

effect which already keeps the Earth waimer than it would otherwise be," and

(2) that

emissions resulting from human act1v1ties are substantially

increasing the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases

carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocai·bons (CFCs) and nitrous

oxide. These increases will enhance the greenhouse effect,

resulting on average in an additional warming of the Earth's

surface. The main greenhouse gas, water vapour, will increase in

response to global warming and further enhance it. 163

The IPCC reconfirmed these conclusions in a 1 992 supplement to the

First Assessment repoii. 164

e. The United Nations began preparation for the 1 992 Earth Summit in Rio de

J aneiro, Brazil, a major, newsworthy gathering of 172 world govemments, of

which 1 16 sent their heads of state. The Summit resulted in the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change ("UNFCCC"), an international

environmental treaty providing protocols for future negotiations aimed at

"stabiliz[ing] greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that

162

See IPCC, Reports, http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/

publications_and_data_reports.shtml.

163

IPCC, Climate Change: The IPCC Scient(fic Assessment, Policymakers Sununary (1990),

http ://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/fai-/wg_I/ipcc_fai·_wg_I_spm.pdf.

164

IPCC, 1992 IPCC Supplement to the First Assessment Report (1 992),

http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_90_92_ assessments_far.shtml.

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would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate

system." 1 65

150.

These world events marked a shift in public discussion of climate change, and the

initiation of international effo1is to curb anthropogenic greenhouse emissions - developments that

had stark implications for, and would have diminished the profitability of, Defendants' fossil

fuel products.

151.

But rather than collaborating with the international community by acting to

forestall, or at least decrease, their fossil fuel products' contributions to global wanning, sea level

rise, disruptions to the hydrologic cycle, and associated consequences to Rhode Island and other

communities, Defendants embarked on a decades-long campaign designed to maximize continued

dependence on their products and w1dermine national and international efforts like the Kyoto

Protocol to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

1 52.

Defendants' campaign, which focused on concealing, discrediting, and/or

misrepresenting information that tended to support restricting consumption of (and thereby

decreasing demand for) Defendants' fossil fuel products, took several forms. The campaign

enabled Defendants to accelerate their business practice of exploiting fossil fuel reserves, and

concurrently externalize the social and environmental costs of their fossil fuel products. These

activities stood in direct contradiction to Defendants' own prior recognition that the science of

anthropogenic climate change was clear and that the greatest uncertainties involved responsive

hwnan behavior, not scientific understanding of the issue.

1 65 United Nations, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 2 (1 992),

https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf.

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153.

Defendants took affomative steps to conceal, from the State and the general public,

the foreseeable impacts of the use of their fossil fuel products on the Earth's climate and associated

hmms to people and communities. Defendants embarked on a concerted public relations campaign

to cast doubt on the science com1ecting global climate change to fossil fuel products and

greenhouse gas emissions, in order to influence public perception of the existence of anthropogenic

global wa1ming and sea level rise, disruptions to weather cycles, extreme precipitation and

clrnught, and associated consequences. The effort included promoting their hazardous products

through advertising campaigns and the initiation and funding of climate change denialist

organizations, designed to influence consumers to continue using Defendants' fossil fuel products

irrespective of those products' damage to communities and the environment.

154.

For example, in 1988, Joseph Carlson, an Exxon public affairs manager, described

the "Exxon Position," which included among others, two important messaging tenets: ( 1 )

"[e]mphasize the uncertainty in scientific conclusions regarding the potential enhanced

Greenhouse Effect;" and (2) "[r] esist the overstatement and sensationalization [sic] of potential

greenhouse effect which could lead to noneconomic development of non-fossil fuel resources." 166

1 55.

A 1994 Shell report entitled "The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect: A Review of the

Scientific Aspects" by Royal Dutch Shell environmental advisor Peter Langcake stands in stark

contrast to the company's 1 988 report on the same topic. Whereas before, the authors

recommended consideration of policy solutions em·ly on, Langcake warned of the potentially

dramatic "economic effects of ill-advised policy measures." While the report recognized the IPCC

conclusions as the mainstream view, Langcake still emphasized scientific uncertainty, noting, for

166

Joseph M. Carlson, Exxon Memo on "The Greenhouse Effect" (Aug. 3, 1 988),

https://assets.docun1entcloud.org/ documents/3 024180/199 8-Exxon-Memo-on-the-Greenhouse

Effect.pdf.

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example, that "the postulated link between any observed temperature rise and human activities has

to be seen in relation to natural variability, which is still largely unpredictable." The Group position

is stated clearly in the report: "Scientific uncertainty and the evolution of energy systems indicate

that policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions beyond 'no regrets' measures could be premature,

divert resources from more pressing needs and further distort markets."1 67

1 56.

In 1 991, for example, the Infom1ation Council for the Environment ("ICE''), whose

members included affiliates, predecessors and/or subsidiaries of Defendants, including Pittsburg

and Midway Coal Mining (Chevron) and Island Creek Coal Company (Occidental), launched a

national climate change science denial campaign with full-page newspaper ads, radio commercials,

a public relations tour schedule, "mailers," and research tools to measure campaign success.

Included among the campaign strntegies was to "reposition global warming as theory (not fact)."

Its target audience included older less-educated males who arc "predisposed to favor the ICE

agenda, and likely to be even more supportive of that agenda following exposure to new info."168

1 57.

An implicit goal of ICE's advertising campaign was to change public opinion and

avoid regulation. A memo from Richard Lawson, president of the National. Coal Association asked

members to contribute to the ICE campaign with the j ustification that "policymakers are prepared

to act [on global warming]. Public opinion polls reveal that 60% of the American people already

1 67 P. Langcake, The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect: A review of the Scientific Aspects, (Dec.

1 994 ), https ://www .documentcloud.org/documents/441 1099Document l l .html#document/p l 5/a41 151 1 .

168

Union of Concerned Scientists, Deception Dossier #5: Coal 's "Information Council on the

Environment " Sham (1991 ), http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/defau1t/files/attach/201 5/07/Climate

Deception-Dossi er-5_ICE.pdf.

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bebeve global wanning is a serious environmental problem. Our industry cannot sit on the

sidelines in this debate." 169

1 58.

The following images are examples of ICE-funded print advertisements

challenging the validity of climate science and intended to obscure the scientific consensus on

anthropogenic climate change and induce political inertia to address it. 170

Fig. 7: Information Council for the Environment Advertisements

159.

In 1996, Exxon released a publication called "Global Warming: Who's Right?

Facts about a debate that's turned up more questions than answers." In the publication's preface,

Exxon CEO Lee Raymond stated that "taking drastic action inunediately is unnecessary since

many scientists agree there's ample time to better understand the climate system ." The subsequent

article described the greenhouse effect as "unquestionably real and definitely a good thing," while

ignoring the severe consequences th

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