WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has filed lawsuit against five major oil companies-- BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell-- for the costs related to curb the effects of climate changes caused by the oil companies products.
The lawsuit seeks damages in billions to 'pay for harm that we've already seen and damages that are necessary to address harm we expect to happen over the course of this century.'
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott Stringer and other trustees of the City's $189 Billion pension funds Wednesday announced a goal to divest City funds from fossil fuel reserve owners within five years.
The Mayor and Comptroller will submit a joint resolution to pension fund trustees to begin analyzing ways to divest from fossil fuel owners in a responsible way that is fully consistent with fiduciary obligations.
In total, the City's five pension funds hold roughly $5 billion in the securities of over 190 fossil fuel companies.
'New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels,' said Mayor de Blasio. 'At the same time, we're bringing the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits.'
'As climate change continues to worsen, it's up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient,' he said.
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