Today, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an investigation into the role ExxonMobil and other plastics and petrochemical companies have played in the mounting plastics crisis, including evidence that the industry intentionally misled consumers and the public about plastics recycling.
Carroll Muffett, President of the Center for International Environmental Law, issued the following statement:
“The investigation into plastics and petrochemical producers announced today by the State of California may be unexpected, but it should not be surprising. As the impacts of pervasive plastic pollution grow more visible and more severe across California and around the world, government attorneys tasked with protecting public health, consumer rights, and the public fisc have a duty to ask why. Amidst mounting evidence plastic producers misled consumers and the public for decades about the effectiveness of plastic recycling–and that corporate greenwashing of the industry’s impacts is still ongoing–the Attorney General has a responsibility to investigate the role the industry has played in the plastic crisis and plastic harms.
“As the AG’s subpoena of ExxonMobil demonstrates, the parallels to climate deception are far from coincidental. Plastics are fossil fuels in another form. Many of the same companies whose products drive the climate crisis are also leading producers of plastics. Against the mountains of evidence these same companies misled the public for decades about the climate impacts of their products; it is reasonable and appropriate to investigate whether and how they used a similar playbook for plastics.
“The harms and costs confronting the State and people of California are significant, but they’re not unique. From frontline and fenceline communities harmed by plastic production and incineration, to people facing plastics on their shorelines and croplands, in their food and water supplies, and in their bodies, the impacts of plastic are diverse, widespread, and accelerating. So, while California’s action is the first of its kind, it is unlikely to be the last.”
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Additional resources
- CIEL, Smoke and Fumes: The Legal and Evidentiary Basis for Holding Big Oil Accountable for the Climate Crisis
- CIEL, Fueling Plastics: series examines deep linkages between the fossil fuels and plastics industries, the products they produce, and what the industry knew about pollution
- CIEL, Plastic and Climate
- CIEL, Plastic and Health
Media contact
Cate Bonacini, press@ciel.org, +1-202-742-5847
Posted on April 28, 2022