California sues oil companies over climate change, seeking billions and claiming decades of deception

California has filed a major lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil companies, saying they knew as far back as the 1950s that their products are major contributors to climate change, but they misled the public and now must pay billions to help the state grapple with wildfires, droughts, sea level rise and other disasters that climate change has made worse. The lawsuit, filed late Friday in San Francisco County Superior Court, seeks to force the oil companies to create an “abatement fund” to pay for damages that California...