Prominent elected officials throughout New York State are endorsing a recent report that argues Big Oil should be held legally accountable for the deadly toll of climate change. The memorandum, which was written by lawyers for the nonprofit advocacy groups Public Citizen and Fair and Just Prosecution, argues that authorities can charge fossil fuel companies with reckless endangerment for knowingly contributing to global warming despite the harm it causes to people.
"Reckless endangerment occurs when someone engages in reckless conduct that risks injuring or killing another person,” Aaron Regunberg, the senior policy counsel with Public Citizen's Climate Program, said in a statement. “That's exactly what these companies and their CEOs have done by knowingly creating the climate crisis that is causing extreme — and extremely dangerous — weather events."
