Big oil is behind conspiracy to deceive public, first climate racketeering lawsuit says

The same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football executives and international fraudsters is to be tested against oil and coal companies who are accused of conspiring to deceive the public over the climate crisis.

The 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act was originally intended to combat criminal enterprises like the mafia, but has since been used in civil courts to litigate harms caused by opioids, vehicle emissions and even e-cigarettes as organised crime cases.

In other words, the action plan was allegedly a climate change denial plan executed through a network of dark money ploughed into thinktanks, research institutions, trade groups and PR firms, and provided a roadmap for an open-ended enterprise that is still implemented today.

Seven oil firms, three coal companies, and hundreds of organisations and operatives are among the defendants accused of consumer fraud, racketeering, antitrust, fraudulent misrepresentation, conspiracy to defraud, products liability and unjust enrichment among other crimes.