In a first-of-its-kind case, a daughter has sued seven major oil and gas companies, claiming they are responsible for her mother's 2021 death by overheating, The New York Times reported.
The lawsuit appeared to be the first time that a plaintiff has tried holding the companies legally accountable for the death of a particular person due to global temperature increases, according to the Times.
Plaintiff Misti Leon brought the case in response to the death of her mother, Juliana, or Julie, Leon. Julie passed away in her vehicle on a scorching-hot, 108-degree Fahrenheit day in June 2021.
"Julie died from hyperthermia during the hottest and deadliest heat wave the Pacific Northwest has ever experienced," the lawsuit stated. "As a resident of temperate Western Washington, Julie never could have imagined dying this way."
Filed in Washington state court, the civil lawsuit accused the defendant oil and gas companies of failing to warn consumers about the dangers of planet-warming pollution released by their products.
Instead, the complaint alleged, the companies worked over a period of decades to systematically undermine the scientific consensus that the burning of oil, coal, and natural gas releases heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to rise.
While it is difficult to tie any single weather event directly to human causes, a team of climate researchers determined that the historic heat dome over the Northwest U.S. in 2021 "would have been virtually impossible" without the ongoing rise in global temperatures, The New York Times reported at the time.
Dirty fuels like oil, gas, and coal are responsible for the vast majority of planet-warming pollution, accounting for 75% of all heat-trapping pollution and 90% of carbon-dioxide pollution specifically, according to the UN.
While Leon's lawsuit marked the first time a plaintiff has sought to hold the oil and gas companies responsible for the death of a particular individual, others also have attempted to use the legal system as a means of obtaining accountability and creating change.
In the past 10 years, roughly three-dozen state and local governments have sued oil and gas companies over the environmental impacts of their products, according to the Times.
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For sure 👍 Though the fight against heat-trapping pollution can sometimes seem impossible, there are many things we can do as individuals to make a change.
For example, switching from a gas-powered to an electric lawnmower, taking public transportation instead of driving, and growing a home garden all can significantly reduce the amount of pollution you produce.
If enough people do enough small things, it can add up to a big difference, potentially sparing others from the tragedy that struck the Leon family.
"I never would have in a million years guessed that a heat dome and climate change would be what killed my mother and what took her from me," Misti Leon told the Times. "There's no way to comprehend that and kind of even rationalize it."
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