HCR 5 - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-0300
08/04
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 5
SPONSORS: Rep. Caplan, Merr. 8; Rep. Vail, Hills. 6; Rep. McGhee, Hills. 35; Rep. Bixby, Straf. 13; Rep. Read, Rock. 10; Rep. Schultz, Merr. 29; Rep. Parshall, Ches. 8
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This resolution urges the taking of appropriate legal action against multinational fossil fuel companies for harms incurred from disinformation campaigns about the effects of fossil fuel combustion.
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23-0300
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
Whereas, corporations which produce products incurring harm when used as intended are liable for the harm caused by those products and misrepresentation about the facts around use of such products; and
Whereas, fossil fuel companies knew decades ago that the fossil fuel products they produce and sell were altering the atmosphere and would cause dire global warming impacts; and
Whereas, these companies responded to the information provided by their own scientists on the catastrophic risk of continued use of their products by orchestrating and funding a campaign of denial and disinformation, spreading cherry-picked facts, testimony of fake experts, and conspiracy theories; and
Whereas, as a result of this extensive, decades-long campaign of deceit, the public has been denied the right to be accurately informed about anthropogenic global warming and its associated climate change, and government bodies have been unable to form appropriate policies and regulations; and
Whereas, New Hampshire, its government, industries, and citizens have already suffered extensive damage and will continue to suffer damage in the form of coastal flooding, loss of agricultural production, loss of tourism, catastrophic storms, floods, pests, and diseases, as well as migration of climate refugees from other hard hit regions due to the influence campaign of the fossil fuel industry and allied individuals in government and the media; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
The general court resolves to protect the interests of the state and its citizens by asking the governor and attorney general to join with other states and municipalities in pursuing all appropriate legal actions against and remedies from the companies most responsible for the harms associated with climate change due to fossil fuel use; and
That the house clerk and senate clerk each transmit a copy of this resolution to the governor and the attorney general.