At least five California municipalities are suing five major oil companies, claiming in public nuisance lawsuits that the firms should pay for the infrastructure costs associated with rising sea levels due to climate change.

The latest suits announced Wednesday by Oakland and San Francisco name BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell. The cities claim the oil companies knew of the dangers of fossil-fuel-driven climate change but kept mum. The cities claim that global warming, which they say has melted ice sheets and heated sea water, has contributed to rising seas by about eight inches in California over the past decade. They say it could rise 10 feet by the year 2100.

"The bill has come due," San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. "It's time for these companies to take responsibility."

San Francisco's suit (PDF) claims the oil companies went on a campaign for decades to fool the public.

Defendants stole a page from the Big Tobacco playbook and sponsored public relations campaigns, either directly or through the American Petroleum Institute or other groups, to deny and discredit the mainstream scientific consensus on global warming, downplay the risks of global warming, and even to launch unfounded attacks on the integrity of leading climate scientists.

The suits from Oakland and San Francisco come about two months after the city of Imperial Beach and the California counties of Marin and San Mateo lodged similar actions.

The oil companies suggested the suits were misguided.

"Chevron welcomes serious attempts to address the issue of climate change, but these suits do not do that," company spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global issue that requires global engagement and action."

The trade group American Petroleum Institute said the industry will "play a leading role in driving down US greenhouse gas and other emissions."

San Francisco says the city will pay about $500 million to shore up a 3-mile seawall along the tourist-attracting Embarcadero area to prevent flooding. Oakland says it is anticipating spending $56 million to shore up areas along its bay and the Oakland International Airport.

It's unclear if these lawsuits have any legal legs, however.

In 2008, the Alaskan village of Kivalina lodged a similar suit in federal court. A judge dismissed the public nuisance suit because the federal Clean Air Act governed the issue.