ExxonMobil is suing California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, alleging that the attorney general defamed the company’s plastics recycling technology in the state’s 2024 lawsuit. The company is asking for damages and a retraction of the alleged defamatory statements.
The lawsuit accused Bonta of acting with a law firm that has ties to a non-profit organization of an Australian billionaire who also owns a company that competes with Exxon in low-carbon energy technology, Reuters reported.
“Together, Bonta and the US Proxies — the former for political gain and the latter pawns for the Foreign Interests — have engaged in a deliberate smear campaign against ExxonMobil, falsely claiming that ExxonMobil’s effective and innovative advanced recycling technology is a ‘false promise’ and ‘not based on truth,’” the complaint stated.
“With apparently no appreciation for the irony of their claim, Mr. Bonta and his cohorts are now engaging in reverse greenwashing,” the complaint saie. “While posing under the banner of environmentalism, they do damage to genuine recycling programs and to meaningful innovation.”
"This is another attempt from ExxonMobil to deflect attention from its own unlawful deception,” a spokesperson for the California Department of Justice said. “The Attorney General is proud to advance his lawsuit against ExxonMobil and looks forward to vigorously litigating this case in court."
In September 2024, California sued ExxonMobil, alleging that the company led a “campaign of deception” against state and local governments “that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” The California Department of Justice alleged that ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public for “half a century through misleading public statements and slick marketing promising that recycling would address the ever-increasing amount of plastic waste ExxonMobil produces.” (see California Sues ExxonMobil for “Campaign of Deception” about Plastic Recycling.)