News & Analysis
June 21, 2024
After becoming the largest state to sue oil and gas companies for their climate deception last year, California just upped the ante by expanding its lawsuit to make Big Oil companies give up the profits they illegally earned while lying to consumers about their products. California now joins other states, including Connecticut and Minnesota, that are seeking disgorgement of Big Oil’s profits in their climate accountability lawsuits.
“This much is clear: Big Oil continues to mislead us with their lies and mistruths, and we won’t stand for that,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Their ongoing egregious misconduct is damning. We will continue to vigorously prosecute this matter and ensure that Big Oil pays to abate the harm they have caused, and we will recover ill-gotten gains that will benefit Californians.”
The complaint was expanded after California enacted a new law earlier this year that allows funds obtained through lying to be placed in the state’s Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund. Attorney General Bonta also updated the complaint to include additional evidence of how ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and the American Petroleum Institute continue to deceptively market and greenwash fossil fuel products to portray themselves as part of the climate solution.
A recent Congressional investigation concluded that Big Oil companies have shifted from denying the existence of climate change to “deception, disinformation, and doublespeak” about the industry’s role in addressing the climate crisis. Evidence of this shift included companies overstating their climate-friendly investments, privately lobbying against emissions reduction policies, and claiming to support a reduction in carbon emissions while expanding their fossil fuel investments and production.
