In New Hampshire, climate accountability is a public safety priority

Yahoo

04-04-2025

Gov. Kelly Ayotte speaks with reporters on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Will Steinfeld/New Hampshire Bulletin)
Public safety and corporate accountability must be at the top of the list for our next attorney general. John Formella is our attorney general now and his term ends soon. Gov. Kelly Ayotte will nominate a successor for confirmation by the Executive Council; her pick should be someone for whom accountability on the costs of climate change is a priority.
We can thank Formella for holding opioid manufacturers accountable and winning a $40 million settlement to the public benefit of New Hampshire. Quite rightly, his lawsuit called out the manufacturer for creating a public nuisance that interfered with public health and safety. The lawsuit also claimed the manufacturer deceived the public by misrepresenting the safety of its products.
Deception and risks to the public were central to New Hampshire's 2003 lawsuit against Exxon and other fossil fuel manufacturers over an additive in gasoline, and cited negligence and failure to provide adequate warnings regarding dangers associated with their product. After a decade of litigation, several New Hampshire attorneys general (Ayotte among them) and a three-month-long trial in 2013, the jury needed less than two hours to arrive at a guilty verdict. Exxon paid New Hampshire $236 million; the award is being used today for projects related to cleaning up and protecting drinking water.
These two lawsuits illustrate New Hampshire at its best: serving under parens patriae, the principle that the state carries with it the responsibility for the protection of its citizens. New Hampshire can rely on this principle to sue fossil fuel companies for their role in climate change.
Science has determined the causes of climate change. The evidence illustrates that Exxon's own scientists understood the link between burning fossil fuels and global warming as far back as 1977. Yet Exxon's leadership chose not to confront the challenge, but instead chose to deny, deceive, and delay, and reap hundreds of billions of dollars in profits. The paper trail is there for all to see.
Peer-reviewed science has also determined with some precision the role fossil fuel companies have played in contributing to climate change. Published science finds that heat-trapping emissions traced to the world's largest fossil fuel producers have contributed to nearly half of the rise in temperature and nearly one-third of the observed sea level rise.
Science now plays a key role in litigation. Today over 30 U.S. cities, counties, and states are suing to hold accountable Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and others to pay their fair share of the costs of climate change.
Five New England states are suing fossil fuel companies using various consumer protection laws related to consumer fraud, deception, and damages. Climate impacts ignore political borders; it is time for New Hampshire to join Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
Gov. Ayotte's positions on clean energy and climate have evolved in the right direction since she was our attorney general. As a U.S. senator, Ayotte listened to businesses and scientists. In 2015, in supporting the U.S. EPA's plan to reduce carbon pollution, Sen. Ayotte explained, 'I have decided to support the Clean Power Plan to address climate change through clean energy solutions that will protect our environment.'
Addressing climate change will protect the environment and businesses, and business leaders in New Hampshire know this. Here are a few comments from a private meeting of 100 business leaders convened in 2014 to address risk and resilience and a changing climate:
'We seem to be getting into a period of climate that some of these storms will not have easy fixes.' — Technology provider
'I had three 100-year storms in five years. Where do you go with that?'— Utility official
'These major storms shut down trucking to various parts of the state and shut down commerce.' — Manufacturer
'Our cost to maintain roads in the woods has about doubled and are today unpredictable.' — Forest products supplier
'Property insurance is increasingly difficult to get on coastlines and you're going to have to deal with that.' — Financial adviser
The costs to businesses and schools, to towns and cities, to residents and to public health are becoming overwhelming. An expensive new bridge spanning Hampton Harbor is designed for 4 feet of sea level rise; crop losses and washed-out roads occur in every county. Our taxes are already paying for mitigation and repair. It is time for New Hampshire to protect its citizens once again.
Holding fossil fuel companies accountable for climate damages is consistent with the legal doctrines New Hampshire has relied on in the recent past against opioid manufacturers and polluters. Holding fossil fuel companies accountable needs to be on the short list for the next attorney general, and through her consideration and subsequent nomination Gov. Ayotte has a generational opportunity to make that happen.