California’s attorney general has filed a major lawsuit against some of the world’s biggest oil companies, accusing them of deceiving the public about climate change for decades. Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the case in San Francisco County Superior Court. The defendants include ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and the American Petroleum Institute.
California’s attorney general has sued ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and other oil giants over decades of alleged climate deception.
The lawsuit claims these companies knew since the 1960s that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. But instead of being honest, they allegedly spread false information to protect their profits. The state says they promoted fossil fuels as “clean,” “green,” or “low-emissions” even while knowing about the carbon pollution those fuels produce.
California says it’s already spent tens of billions of dollars dealing with climate-related damage. The state’s faced deadly wildfires, record droughts, extreme heat waves, and rising sea levels. Those problems have hurt communities, damaged infrastructure, and strained water supplies. Future costs are expected to be much higher.
The state’s making several legal claims against the companies. Those include public nuisance, false advertising, unfair business practices, damage to natural resources, and failure to warn consumers about climate risks. The lawsuit also seeks a special fund to pay for climate adaptation efforts, injunctive relief to stop misleading statements, damages for harm to state property, and recovery of illegal profits.
Bonta said the oil companies “fed lies for record-breaking profits at the environment’s expense.” Governor Gavin Newsom added that “Big Oil” has been “lying for over 50 years” about the dangers of fossil fuels.
The lawsuit also accuses the companies of using their own climate knowledge for financial gain. For example, they reportedly explored Arctic oil drilling as melting ice opened new routes, while still denying climate change publicly.
California’s case is notable for its size. It’s among the largest geographic area and economy to sue oil companies over climate deception. The state reportedly added new demands in 2024, including penalties under California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws, making the case even broader than when it was first filed. A separate ExxonMobil lawsuit filed by Bonta over plastic pollution also exists. The lawsuit follows eight California municipalities that filed some of the nation’s first-ever climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies back in 2017 and 2018.
References
- https://climateintegrity.org/lawsuits/case/state-of-california
- https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-against-oil-and-gas-companies
- https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/09/16/people-of-the-state-of-california-v-big-oil/
- https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/people-v-exxon-mobil-corp-_97d57a
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR24jmO_uNY
