NewYork-City New York City. Photo Credit: TTstudio/Shutterstock.com

The city of New York wants to lay the realities of climate change at the feet of the energy companies the city says are responsible.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this week, counsel for the city allege that Exxon Mobil Corp., BP, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co. and Shell produced, marketed and sold “massive quantities” of fossil fuels, despite knowing “for decades” the impact their use would have on the environment.

That there is a social shared responsibility for climate changing behavior “is a myth,” the city claims. The companies—the five largest in the world as measured by cumulative carbon and methane pollution, according to the city—are responsible for 11 percent of all fossil fuel-related emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Their industry-leading “public relations strategy … downplaying the risks of climate change and promoting fossil fuel use despite the risks” makes them further liable, according to the city.