Maui County sued 20 fossil fuel companies for what it describes as “a decades-long campaign of deception” to knowingly deny and cover up the damages caused by their products. The county seeks compensation for the damages caused by the emissions resulting from defendants’ alleged deception campaign to prevent climate action, including the costs of its managed retreat and new infrastructure to adapt to rising sea levels. Five commercial harbors and five airports are vulnerable to rising seas, according to the complaint. After the city of Honolulu filed a similar lawsuit in March, Maui County, which has nearly 300 miles of coastline, is the latest in a string of nearly two dozen states and municipalities around the country seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for, they allege, a coordinated effort to mislead the public about the climate impacts of fossil fuel combustion to dampen public demand for policies to reduce fossil fuel use, and therefore, sales. (InsideClimate News, Drilled, HawaiiNewsNow, Maui Now, Bloomberg Law $)