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California\u2019s attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit this past Monday on behalf of the state against ExxonMobil, one of the world\u2019s largest producers of a critical component of plastic\u2014oil. The suit alleges that ExxonMobil deceived the public for decades about the sustainability and recyclability of plastics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lawsuit seeks an end to deceptive messaging, civil fines and penalties, disgorgement (fancy lawyer talk for taking away profits from illegal activity), and an abatement fund to help pay for the clean-up from ExxonMobil\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
The 147-page\u00a0complaint<\/a>\u00a0lays out a decades-long effort by one of the world\u2019s largest producers of synthetic polymers (\u201cessentially the building blocks used to make single-use plastic,\u201d Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s office said in a\u00a0press release<\/a>), detailing a history of sustained greenwashing that the state traces back to the 1950s, when the plastics industry, including ExxonMobil, made a concerted effort to change consumer behavior to promote the sale and use of single-use plastic items. The suit includes examples of advertisements published in popular magazines like\u00a0LIFE<\/em>\u00a0to promote disposable lifestyles. In another instance of Tweets never going away, the suit includes screenshots of social media greenwashing posts by ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n