Across the country, states, cities, tribes, and environmental groups have filed dozens of lawsuits against oil companies alleging that they misled the public about the dangers of their products.

These cases share a core argument.

Oil companies knew fossil fuels were driving climate change and lied about it.

California has played a major role in the litigation.

In 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and the American Petroleum Institute, alleging that they misled the public about climate change.

California and other plaintiffs are recycling a legal strategy deployed during the 1990s, when states alleged that tobacco companies knew cigarettes caused cancer.

Four large companies settled the cases by paying billions to fund states' anti-smoking campaign and other efforts.

The manufacturers also must make annual payments to the states as long as they sell cigarettes in the United States.

While tobacco lawsuits prove corporations can be held accountable, legal experts say taking on big oil presents bigger hurdles.

One major hurdle for climate suit plaintiffs is the industry's push to move cases to federal courts, where judges have been more inclined than state courts to dismiss them, legal experts said.

Connecting wildfires to fossil fuel companies is particularly difficult since fires are often ignited by identifiable parties, such as utilities or arsonists, who can be held directly liable.

Michael Girard, an environmental law expert at Columbia Law School, said the oil industry, unlike the tobacco industry, is also actively supported by government policies, from subsidies to infrastructure investments, that promote oil consumption.

There are lots of lawsuits pending, but so far, not a single court in the world has held fossil fuel companies financially responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's highly uncertain whether these cases will ultimately succeed,” Girard said.

If successful, these cases could set a precedent similar to the tobacco cases, ultimately holding fossil fuel companies accountable.

For CalMatters, I'm Alejandro Lazo.