A majority of U.S. voters support civil lawsuits against fossil fuel companies for their role in creating the climate crisis, while roughly half support criminal charges, a new poll from Data for Progress found.
The poll results, released Tuesday, indicate support for the dozens of civil cases against Big Oil currently in U.S. courts, many of which were brought by municipalities or states.
In a sample of over 1,000 respondents, 62% of likely voters said that they supported legal accountability for oil and gas companies for "their contributions to climate change," including 84% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans. "Voters strongly want to see companies held accountable for their harmful actions," Grace Adcox, a climate strategist at Data for Progress, told The Guardian . "These national findings show these cases may be able to earn popular support, particularly in blue jurisdictions," she added.
Public interest groups have supported the civil cases and pushed for the U.S. Department of Justice to also take civil action against fossil fuel companies, which, the lawsuits generally argue, spread disinformation about the climate consequences of their products for many decades and continue to block substantive climate action.
The case against Big Oil has been strengthened by improved attribution science, which can show the links between climate change and extreme weather events such as forest fires. Many experts draw comparisons to lawsuits once brought against Big Tobacco. The upt.
