Ill-Gotten Gains and Greenwashing by Oil Giants Targets of California Attorney General

The ill-gotten gains of oil companies and “greenwashing” are the targets of an amended complaint filed against the largest fossil fuel companies by California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta.

The amended complaint seeks to make companies give up “illegally obtained” profits, an act known as “disgorgement” in legal circles. Bonta brought this aspect of the suit forward as a result of AB 1366, a California law that allowed the attorney general to add disgorgement as a remedy for false advertising. Bonta also expanded on “greenwashing” in the suit, showing how oil companies have portrayed themselves as environmentally friendly when that is not the reality of their work. The initial lawsuit was filed in September 2023. 

“Their repeated claims that certain of their products are ‘clean,’ and their frequent use of ‘green’ and environmentally positive imagery in their marketing materials, are likely to mislead Californians that the oil companies’ fuels are less environmentally harmful than they are,” the Attorney General’s office said in a news release.

The five companies involved in the lawsuit, People ex rel. Bonta v. Exxon Mobil, are Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP. Chevron is headquartered in the State of California, operating out of San Ramon. Bonta’s lawsuit is an example of a wider trend of the public looking to hold big oil companies accountable for their roles in the climate crisis. If the lawsuit is decided in California’s favor, the companies would be required to give up the money that was illegally obtained.

Climate accountability cases are not only being filed in California. In Oregon, Multnomah County made history by suing fossil fuel companies over the 2021 heat dome event that killed multiple residents and saw temperatures as high as 116 degrees in the county. The case will be heard in Oregon Circuit Court and the county is seeking $52 million in damages from the companies. A 2023 Supreme Court ruling that denied appeals made by large oil companies to remove liability under state laws for environmental damage is, in part, making these state lawsuits possible.

Montecito-based environmental journalist Robert Taylor noted that polls suggest most people are in favor of these accountability suits, including Santa Barbara residents.

“Polluters should and must pay for the climate impacts their products have produced. It’s a simple idea — and most Americans already support it. A recent poll revealed that 76 percent of Americans think large polluters should pay for the destructive emissions that overheat the planet and tarnish our air,” Taylor said in an email. “According to the 2023 Yale Climate Opinion Maps, 72 percent of people in Santa Barbara County support taxing fossil fuel companies.”

Taylor also noted that large oil companies have known about their pollution for years and should pay for their damage.

“When big polluters get a free pass to harm the planet, they cost our communities dearly. It’s only fair that they pay for the harm they cause,” he said.