California sues oil giant Exxon over global plastic pollution
California attorney general accuses ExxonMobil of ‘decades-long deception’ for promising that plastics it produced would be recycled
California and several environmental groups sued ExxonMobil on Monday and accused the oil giant of engaging in a decades-long campaign that helped fuel global plastic waste pollution.
Speaking at an event during Climate Week in New York City, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state sued Exxon after concluding a nearly two-year investigation that he said showed Exxon was deliberately misleading the public about the limitations of recycling.
“Today’s lawsuit shows the fullest picture to date of ExxonMobil’s decades-long deception, and we are asking the court to hold ExxonMobil fully accountable for its role in actively creating and exacerbating the plastics pollution crisis through its campaign of deception,” Bonta said in a statement.
The investigation mirrors California’s previous probes into the oil industry’s alleged efforts to mislead the public about climate change, which the state is also suing over. The state has a long-standing adversarial relationship with Big Oil.
Once a major crude supplier, California’s oil production has declined steadily for almost four decades, with companies saying the regulatory environment makes it a difficult place to invest.
