Middlesex County v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

Middlesex County, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court alleging that the actions of the defendant fossil fuel companies and American Petroleum Institute were a substantial factor in causing anthropogenic climate change. The complaint alleged that the County had seen “some of the worst consequences of climate change in recent years,” including “rising temperatures, intense precipitation events, destructive floods and coastal storms, and frequent episodes of drought conditions.” The complaint alleged that these conditions resulted in deaths, property damage, and economic disruption in the County. The complaint alleged that the defendants caused these adverse effects by their conduct “in manufacturing, marketing, distributing, and profiting from the sale of fossil fuels.” This alleged conduct included the defendants’ extraction, marketing, and sale of fossil fuels with knowledge that use of the fuels causes global warming, as well as the defendants’ participation in “coordinated campaigns to deceive the public about the known and foreseeable threats their fossil fuels posed to the climate in order to mislead consumers and turn public opinion against actions to restrict their extraction, production, and sale of fossil fuels.” The County asserted common law claims of public nuisance, private nuisance, trespass, and negligence. The County also asserted that the defendants violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (NJCFA). The relief requested included compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages; treble damages under the NJCFA; an order compelling the defendants to abate the nuisance and to pay the costs of abatement; injunctive relief barring defendants from engaging in trespass; and attorneys’ fees and costs.