California Attorney General Bonta Joins Case Against Oil Companies' Climate Claims

By Ria Roebuck Joseph | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square California

April 10, 2023

(The Center Square) - In a brief filed on March 7, 18 attorneys general including California's Rob Bonta showed their joint support for the District of Columbia in its case arguing that “for decades, (oil) companies waged a public misinformation campaign about human-caused climate change despite knowing—including from the fuel industry’s own research—that burning fossil fuels would have significant negative environmental consequences." Later, according to the complaint, "the companies changed tack, deceitfully presenting themselves to the public as leaders in alternative energy sources and misrepresenting their products’ environmental impacts.”

“Big Oil has relied on deceptive tactics to mislead consumers about the harms of fossil fuel use,” said Attorney General Bonta.

The case brought by the District of Columbia against ExxonMobile, BP, Chevron and Shell, is in local court though the companies have tried to move it to federal court.

“Today’s filing sends a strong message to corporations looking to fill their pockets at the expense of the health and wellbeing of the American people. We ask the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to protect American families and future generations by allowing the case to proceed in state court,” Bonta said.

"Prevention of unfair and deceptive business practices is an area traditionally regulated by the States,”’ the brief noted. “All federal courts of appeals that have considered the defendant oil companies’ removal arguments (and those of their state amici) have rejected those arguments, and this Court should do the same.”

It also explained that the case does not fall under federal common law because the DC court does not seek to hold the companies liable for causing climate change, but for making false or deceptive representations to D.C. consumers about the effect of burning fossil fuels and about the companies’ investments in alternative energy sources.

The California attorney general stated, “At the California Department of Justice, we will use the full force of the law to ensure Big Oil plays by the rules and is held liable for deceiving the public and exacerbating our climate crisis.”

Letitia James, Attorney General for the state of New York, led the amicus brief.

The focus of the work of The Center Square California is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.