In this episode of the InsiderNJ Podcasst, Matt Smith, NJ State Director and Food and Water Watch, breaks down a lawsuit filed last week by Middlesex County against Big Oil.

For context, via Inside Climate News:

A New Jersey county has become the latest local government to sue major oil and gas companies, seeking to recover costs from damage caused by worsening flooding and other climate change impacts.

The filing comes just days before the U.S. Supreme Court takes up Boulder, Colorado’s climate case against Big Oil in a proceeding whose outcome could stop these types of lawsuits in their tracks.

Middlesex County is suing ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute, following climate deception lawsuits filed by the state of New Jersey and the city of Hoboken. The county’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a New Jersey state court, alleges that the defendants’ “decades of climate deception” have exacerbated climate change impacts that are taking a severe toll on the community and costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

“This lawsuit is a necessary step forward to help protect our communities from further damage from extreme weather events,” Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald G. Rios said in a statement. “Our residents are not only bearing the costs of damage from flooding and other natural disasters, but also the rising everyday costs of protecting their homes and families from extreme heat and cold. We are taking action to seek compensation.”