Exxon sues California AG, environmental groups over attacks on renewables efforts via Reuters

Written by Sheila Dang and Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit on Monday against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, court records show, accusing them of vandalism and contempt for progressive efforts. to recycle the plastics of the oil plant.

The case is a sign of how Exxon continues to battle environmentalists and other critics who have brought lawsuits against the company that they say contribute to climate change and the rise of greenhouse gases.

Filed in federal court in Beaumont, Texas, the lawsuit accused Bonta of working in concert with a law firm called Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP that has ties to IEJF, an Australian non-profit organization that manages is the billionaire founder of Fortescue Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation. .

Fortescue competes with Exxon in the low-carbon solutions and energy transition sector, the lawsuit said.

Cotchett had hired US environmental groups as plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Exxon, and was involved in Bonta’s political campaign, Exxon said.

The company is asking for unspecified damages and the cancellation of what it called defamatory statements.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice said: “This is yet another attempt by ExxonMobil (NYSE: ExxonMobil is looking forward to vigorously litigating this case.”

Bonta sued Exxon last year, saying the company committed decades of deception about recycling limitations and asking the court to “hold ExxonMobil fully accountable for its role in creating and exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis.”

Exxon’s advanced technology uses heat to break down hard-to-recycle plastics down to the molecular level so they can be reused.

Exxon separately sued activist investors last year after they issued a shareholder proposal on climate change. The company continued to pursue the case even after conservative investors dropped the proposal, which raised fears among climate advocates that the legal action would shut down negotiations between the owners. shares and public companies. A US judge dismissed Exxon’s case in June.

“Instead of coming together with the effort to support the growing technology … complaint.

In November, Exxon said it was moving forward with a plan to spend $200 million in Texas to expand its advanced recycling capacity.

Exxon is selling its California oil and gas assets and criticizing the state’s energy laws.