California accuses oil giants of mendacity about plastic recycling in new lawsuit – What’s the purpose?
Guest article by Nick Pope
The state of California is suing ExxonMobil, claiming the company misled the public about the effectiveness of recycling plastic products, thereby promoting environmental pollution.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit against ExxonMobil in San Francisco County Superior Court, claiming the company “engaged in a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastic pollution crisis.” According to the Washington Post, ExxonMobil is not only one of the largest American players in the oil and gas industry, but also a leading producer of chemicals and other materials used to make plastic products.
Download the complaint as PDF
“For decades, ExxonMobil has deceived the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and environmental crisis, when they clearly knew it could not,” Bonta said in a statement Monday about his lawsuit. “ExxonMobil has lied to protect its [record]- Profits are being reduced at the expense of our planet and potentially endangering our health.”
California filed its lawsuit against ExxonMobil just one day after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law banning the provision of plastic bags at point-of-sale in stores. The new lawsuit against the oil, gas and petrochemical giant joins a string of “climate nuisance” lawsuits filed in Democratic-controlled jurisdictions in recent years, which generally allege that major companies like ExxonMobil have misled the public about the role of their products in climate change and should be held accountable for it.
In a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, ExxonMobil sharply criticized California's lawsuit.
“California officials have known for decades that their recycling system is not effective. They have done nothing and are now trying to shift the blame. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to solve the problem and keep plastic out of landfills,” said an ExxonMobil spokesperson. “The first step would be to recognize what their counterparts across the U.S. know: Advanced recycling works. To date, we have transformed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable resources, keeping it out of landfills. We are providing real solutions and recycling plastic waste that could not be recycled using traditional methods.”
Bonta is reportedly interested in running for governor in 2026 to replace the term-limited Newsom, although the attorney general recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that he would not announce his potential candidacy until after the November election. Eco-activist groups, including the Sierra Club and Baykeeper, will attend a virtual news conference hosted by Bonta's office on Monday to discuss the new litigation, the attorney general's office said.
Judith Enck, a former Obama-appointed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official who now leads an activist group called Beyond Plastics, praised Bonta for filing the lawsuit.
“This is the most consequential lawsuit against the plastics industry for its persistent and persistent lies about plastics recycling,” Enck said in a statement Monday. “Attorney General Bonta is a leader on the path to corporate responsibility and a cleaner, healthier world. This lawsuit will set an invaluable precedent for others to follow.”
Steve Milloy, a legal scholar at the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute, criticized the lawsuit Monday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“California communist failure is suing ExxonMobil because radical greens lied to everyone about the feasibility of recycling,” Milloy wrote in his post.
Bonta's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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