Jamie Raskin Slams Big Oil For 'Lying' About Climate Change: 'They Acted Like Maleficent...And Cursed Everyone To Try To Go To Sleep For 100 Years'

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has taken a stand against the petroleum industry’s "pattern of lying and evasion," accusing it of long-term deception regarding climate change. Raskin argues that this alleged deceit has significantly hindered the nation’s progress in tackling the climate crisis.

What Happened: Raskin voiced his concerns during a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, HuffPost reported. This followed the unveiling of a 65-page report by the committee and the House Oversight Committee, a culmination of a three-year investigation into the petroleum industry’s alleged evasion of climate change responsibility.

"Instead of acting like Paul Revere and sounding the alarm about climate change, they acted like Maleficent the evil fairy and Sleeping Beauty and cursed everyone to try to go to sleep for 100 years," Raskin said.

He referred to a 2019 House Oversight hearing where experts testified that oil and gas companies knew as early as 1959 that burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change.

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The report scrutinized several companies, including Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Shell (NYSE:SHEL), BP (NYSE:BP), the American Petroleum Institute, and the Chamber of Commerce, accusing them of obstructing and delaying the committees’ investigation.

“Our investigation uncovered compelling evidence of aggressive industry deceit, which continued long after Big Oil gave up on its outright climate denialism,” Raskin stated.

Why It Matters: This development comes at a time when oil companies are facing a potential crisis. The world is increasingly moving away from oil and other emission-producing energy sources. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, under the United Nations, has set an ambitious “net zero” target for carbon emissions by 2050.

Furthermore, China’s special envoy for climate change, Liu Zhenmin, recently warned that attempts by the U.S. and Europe to curb China’s dominance in green technologies could hinder the global fight against climate change. He expressed concerns that these strategies could delay the global transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

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