California is suing ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and the American Petroleum Institute to make them pay for lying to the public for decades about their fossil fuel products’ central role in the climate crisis. The lawsuit seeks to create an abatement fund for climate adaptation projects across the state and was amended in 2024 to add a disgorgement remedy for profits the companies illegally earned while lying to consumers.
The statewide lawsuit is separate from the cases brought by eight California municipalities — San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Richmond, Imperial Beach, and the counties of San Mateo, Marin, and Santa Cruz — which were some of the nation’s first-ever climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, filed in 2017 and 2018.
“Oil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades — that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change — but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment … From extreme heat to drought and water shortages, the climate crisis they have caused is undeniable. It is time they pay to abate the harm they have caused”
Rob Bonta
California Attorney General
State of California
F3 Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, Phillips 66, American Petroleum Institute (API)
Climate
Public Nuisance, Products Liability: Failure to Warn, Pollution, Impairment, and Destruction of Natural Resources, Misleading Advertising and Environmental Marketing, Unfair Competition
