California AG Sued Five Oil and Gas Companies for Deceptive Marketing

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

In September 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and the American Petroleum Institute for deceptive marketing practices resulting in harms to the state caused by climate change. According to the complaint, the defendants knew since the 1960s that fossil fuels would have a negative effect on the climate, but denied these facts in public communications and marketing. The lawsuit sought “nuisance abatement through the creation of a fund to finance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts; injunctive relief to both protect California’s natural resources from pollution, impairment, and destruction as well as to prevent the companies from making any further false or misleading statements about the contribution of fossil fuel combustion to climate change; damages; and penalties.”

In June 2024, AG Bonta filed an amended complaint adding the disgorgement remedy provided by Assembly Bill 1366: Unfair Competition and False Advertising. This would require the defendants to give up their profits gained through alleged illegal conduct. The amended complaint also includes more examples of alleged false advertising and greenwashing conduct by the defendants.