New York prosecutors could soon criminally charge the oil industry for its role in fueling the climate catastrophe. A prosecution memorandum that has been endorsed by elected officials across New York and published by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen reads, “[Climate] disasters are in large part the result of reckless conduct undertaken by major fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP that are responsible for a substantial portion of all the global greenhouse gas emissions that have caused our planet to heat up. … This conduct was not just amoral. It was criminal.”

Forty cities and states have filed civil lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry in recent years for causing, then covering up, the climate crisis.