'A Couple Successful Lawsuits & They'll Think Twice': Dick Durbin Warns Big Oil Over Climate Deaths

7 months ago

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) warned fossil fuel companies that they could be pursued in court for pollution-related deaths.

Transcript

00:00Thank you. Senator Durbin.

00:03I'd like to follow up a little bit on this discussion about lawsuits,

00:09because I think that's part of what we're here today.

00:12It isn't just trying to identify the threat as being Chinese conspiracies or whatever it happens to be,

00:19but it's also to slow down the pace of lawsuits being filed against major elements of the American economy,

00:25in this case, the fossil fuel industry.

00:28Sheldon Whitehouse, my colleague, mentioned the tobacco issue.

00:34I know that one a little bit, because in 1988, in the House of Representatives,

00:39I successfully passed a bill to ban smoking on airplanes.

00:44Yes, that's true. We used to smoke on airplanes, in the smoking section.

00:49How about that for a fantasy?

00:50And the fact that we had the largest frequent flyer club in the world in the House of Representatives led to a mini revolt.

01:00We banned smoking on airplanes.

01:02But in order to finally get real regulation on tobacco and smoking, we couldn't do it through the House or the Senate.

01:09It had to be done in court, and it was done when states came together, General Kobach.

01:16States came together and said, we're going to all sue the tobacco companies.

01:20It took years for them to do it, but they did it successfully.

01:23And what happened?

01:24Tobacco became less of a scourge to public health in America,

01:27and the likelihood that young people sitting in this audience smoke is diminished dramatically.

01:34Now we have new challenges, social media platforms that are exploiting young people.

01:41We've had testimony before the Judiciary Committee, and we're all members of it,

01:44of people whose children, some committed suicide,

01:48others were exploited terribly with sexual images on the screen.

01:52And the industry is oblivious to this because they are protected under law under Section 230 from liability for this activity.

02:02If we can crack through with lawsuits on the social media platforms, we can change things dramatically.

02:09In the last week or two, you probably heard about the opioid settlement,

02:13$7 or $8 billion to be distributed lawsuits.

02:16The point I'm making to you is part of the agenda here is to somehow assign to lawsuits

02:22some insidious or evil motive in why they're being formed and filed.

02:27The fact is that they're doing what we expect them to do, speak up for the consumer,

02:32try to bring some justice to a situation which otherwise doesn't have it.

02:37We know the fossil fuel industry is polluting this planet that we live on terribly.

02:41I can tell you this, a couple successful lawsuits, and they'll think twice about it.

02:46It changes.

02:47We changed the tobacco industry.

02:49Opioids changed.

02:50They can change, but you go to the courtroom to make that happen.

02:54I don't think it's necessarily the Chinese motivating us.

02:58We're looking for justice, and that's fundamental.

03:00It doesn't come from China.

03:02It comes from the heart of America, too.

03:04The last point I would like to make to you is that we have an opportunity here to do something now

03:10to provide opportunities for diminishing the pollution that we're living with.

03:17Ignore it, and it'll be too late.

03:19We've got to show some leadership in this country.

03:21The bill pending before the United States Congress on reconciliation eliminates most of the incentive

03:29programs for renewable fuels, and that, to me, is something we'll pay a price for for years to come.

03:38This is not a thoughtful thing.

03:40This is inspired by a president who calls global warming a hoax.

03:43I don't think it's a hoax.

03:44I think it's reality, and I think we need to do more about it.

03:47I yield.

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'A Couple Successful Lawsuits & They'll Think Twice': Dick Durbin Warns Big Oil Over Climate Deaths

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