Pennsylvania county joins other local governments in suing oil industry over climate change

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Associated Press

A large suburban Philadelphia county has joined dozens of other local governments around the country in suing the oil industry, asserting that major oil producers systematically deceived the public about their role in accelerating global warming. Bucks County’s lawsuit against a half dozen oil companies blames the industry for more frequent and intense storms, including one last summer that killed seven people. The county wants oil producers to pay to mitigate the damage caused by climate change. Eight states and dozens of municipal governments from California to New Jersey have previously filed suit against oil producers. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, blasted the lawsuits as politicized and lacking merit.