GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Status

Accepted

Abstract

This Essay explores the potential criminal liability of major fossil fuel companies (FFCs) under state laws prohibiting reckless conduct that causes or risks catastrophe. Using Pennsylvania's criminal code § 3302 as a case study, we argue that FFCs' decades-long pattern of deceptive conduct regarding climate change—continuing to aggressively market and sell fossil fuels while actively concealing and denying the catastrophic risks their own scientists had identified—constitutes criminal behavior under these statutes. We demonstrate how FFCs' actions satisfy the key elements of these crimes: they created risks of catastrophe through their emissions and disinformation campaigns, acted recklessly in doing so given their sophisticated understanding of climate science, and directly caused climate-related catastrophes that are now harming communities. We further examine how these charges could be combined with conspiracy and racketeering claims, and how convictions could lead to substantial criminal restitution payments. While prior climate accountability efforts have focused on civil litigation, this Essay contends that criminal prosecution represents an important and viable path forward for holding FFCs accountable for their role in the climate crisis.

GW Paper Series

2024-65

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