In the News: Multnomah County adds NW Natural, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine to climate lawsuit

Multnomah County filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest oil companies June 22, 2023. The lawsuit seeks $52 million in actual damages during Oregon’s 2021 heat dome, $50 million for climate mitigation efforts, and $1.5 billion in future damages due to climate change. (Photo by Jeremiah Hayden)
The massive lawsuit could set a precedent for holding gas utilities and private fossil fuel companies accountable for climate misinformation
As unprecedented hurricanes threatened the western shores of Florida on Oct. 7, lawyers for Multnomah County amended its $52 billion climate lawsuit to include local gas utility NW Natural. The complaint alleges a host of fossil fuel companies knew about and misrepresented the climate and health impacts of burning fossil fuels in a campaign to continue its practices.

Environmental advocates say the legal action appears to be the first time a gas utility has been named in a climate accountability lawsuit in the United States. NW Natural is the largest gas provider in the Pacific Northwest, serving roughly two million people across Western Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Citing fraud, public nuisance, negligence and trespass, Multnomah County initially sued the fossil fuel companies on June 22, 2023 — two years after the 2021 heat dome event. The high heat killed at least 69 people in Multnomah County and 116 throughout Oregon. It also caused significant property damage over the course of three record-breaking days, which reached highs of 108, 112 and 116 degrees. Those highs are nearly 40 degrees above the daily average for the region in June and are hotter than any other day in the county’s recorded history, according to Multnomah County.

The amended complaint alleges NW Natural endeavored to misrepresent the climate effects of its products. It also added the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, or OISM, to the complaint, alleging the Exxon- and Koch-funded organization was created to propagandize and misinform the public and downplay the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change since its inception in 1981.

The lawsuit seeks $52 million in actual damages, $1.5 billion in future damages and an estimated $50 billion abatement fund to plan and study opportunities for climate resiliency.

“NW Natural refused to disclose the truth about the nature and degree to which its fossil fuel products, and those of the subsidiaries it controls, could super heat and thereby harm Multnomah County,” the complaint said.

Between 2010 and 2022, the company contributed 72,145,570 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon, according to the complaint. That’s the equivalent of 17,170,777 gasoline-powered passenger cars driven for one year.

The complaint outlined how NW Natural used front groups to greenwash its brand and deceive the public. The company repeatedly claimed its product is safe, clean and environmentally friendly despite methane being 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping greenhouse gases, according to the complaint.

David Roy, NW Natural's director of communications, said the company is aware of reports that Multnomah County added it to a suit it filed over a year ago against more than a dozen companies. However, the company has not received a complaint from the County and cannot comment in detail.

“We believe adding the company to the suit now is an attempt to divert attention from legal and factual flaws in the case,” Roy said. “NW Natural will vigorously contest the County’s claims should they come to court.”

Melanie Plaut, a medical doctor and volunteer with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, has been working for years to educate the public on the dangers methane gas poses to the shared environment and to people breathing toxins inside the home.

“Everything we burn we breathe – and NW Natural has done everything it can to be sure we keep burning methane,” Plaut said. “Both indoors and out, this produces substances known to contribute to premature birth, dementia, asthma and heart disease. Extreme weather like heat domes which we rarely saw before the climate started changing also impacts our health.”

The complaint contends that NW Natural used various methods to deceive the public about its climate impacts while making few if any, changes to its actual practices. These included sending “gas-related” activity books to children, a paid event for teachers on “exploring renewable gas,” and “astroturfing”—the practice of ginning up fake community support through a public relations campaign.

With little irony, the company’s “Less We Can” campaign advertised to consumers in 2022 using the catchphrase, “Change for the Better Without Changing a Thing,” according to recent reporting by ProPublica.

“In summary, NW Natural has routinely misrepresented to the public the climate impacts of extracting, transporting, storing and burning their product while over-estimating the costs of transitioning to renewables or reducing their pollution in an effort to frighten customers and discourage policymakers from using their authority to protect the public,” the complaint said.

Jessica Vega Pederson, Multnomah County chair, said county residents are already paying for the climate crisis with tax dollars, health and lives, and strengthening the safety net is a high priority.

“As we learned in this country when we took on big tobacco, this is not an easy step or one I take lightly but I do believe it’s our best way to fight for our community and protect our future.”

Environmental advocates applauded the county’s material moves toward climate accountability.

“It is time to hold accountable the companies who obstruct our efforts to decrease the use of fossil fuels,” Plaut said.

OISM did not respond to Street Roots’ request for comment at the time of publishing.


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