King County sues top oil companies for downplaying global warming

SEATTLE  — A Washington county is suing five major oil companies after it says the companies deliberately looked to downplay and discredit scientific warnings about the risks of global warming.

The Seattle Times reports King County, in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, seeks financial compensation to help pay for the costs the county has and will spend on sea-level management and dealing with extreme weather and other effects of climate change.

The Superior Court lawsuit says BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell intentionally produced and marketed fossil fuels that the companies know will exacerbate global warming.

The Seattle Times reached out Wednesday to the five companies named in the suit for comment and none of them responded.