Exxon sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta (pictured) along with a number of environmental groups. Photo: State of California Department of Justice
Exxon Mobil has filed a lawsuit against California attorney general Rob Bonta and a number of environmental groups. The oil and gas giant is alleging that the defendants, which include the Surfrider Foundation, defamed the company by criticizing their advanced plastics recycling initiatives, as Reuters reports.
The lawsuit is a response to numerous criticisms lodged against Exxon, including a lawsuit Bonta filed in September, which claimed the company had deceived the public about the efficacy of their advanced recycling technology, thus prompting them to buy more single-use plastics. Exxon rebuked this claim in their suit, filed in federal court in Beaumont, Texas on Monday, saying, “Exxon Mobil has not engaged in a decades-long secret mission to brainwash or deceive the public.”
The complaint went on to say that, “Instead of coming alongside efforts to support a developing technology … Defendants are repeatedly and publicly attacking ExxonMobil with false accusations of being a ‘liar’ and declarations that advanced recycling is a ‘myth’ and a ‘sham.'”
Also named in the suit were the Sierra Club, San Francisco Baykeeper, Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, who had filed a separate lawsuit accusing the company of violating California nuisance law and California unfair competition law, as well as concealing the harms caused by plastics.
Finally, Exxon named Australian charity Intergenerational Environment Justice Fund, who it accused of having ties to Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, founder of the Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group. The suit alleges that IEJF hired the law firm Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy to recruit those environmental groups who filed the separate lawsuit against Exxon. According to the New York Times, IEJF responded by making a statement on Tuesday that it was not a subsidiary of, owned or controlled by Fortescue or Minderoo, the environmental organization founded by Forrest.
Exxon is asking for an undisclosed amount of damages and a retraction of the “defamatory” statements.
The claims have seemingly done nothing to deter Bonta, though. “This is another attempt from ExxonMobil to deflect attention from its own unlawful deception,” said a spokesperson for the California Department of Justice. “The Attorney General is proud to advance his lawsuit against ExxonMobil and looks forward to vigorously litigating this case in court.”
