{"id":334381,"date":"2025-10-26T18:21:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T18:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334381\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T18:21:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T18:21:15","slug":"exxon-sues-california-over-new-laws-requiring-corporate-climate-disclosures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334381\/","title":{"rendered":"Exxon sues California over new laws requiring corporate climate disclosures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ExxonMobil has filed suit in federal court challenging two California laws <\/a>that would require the oil giant to report the greenhouse emissions resulting from the use of its products globally.<\/p>\n

The 30-page complaint, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, argues that the laws violate the company\u2019s free speech rights by requiring it to \u201ctrumpet California\u2019s preferred message even though ExxonMobil believes the speech is misleading and misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 253, the 2023 legislation known as the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act,<\/a> requires the California Air Resources Board to adopt regulations by this year to mandate public and private companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to begin publicly disclosing their emissions across three \u201cscopes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Scope 1 emissions are defined as direct greenhouse gas emissions from a company and its branches. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions, such as electricity bought by the company. Scope 3 are emissions from the company\u2019s supply chain, including waste, water usage, business travel and employee commutes, which account for about 75% of a company\u2019s greenhouse emissions for many industries. Reporting begins in 2026 on scopes 1 and 2 and in 2027 on scope 3.<\/p>\n

The attorney general\u2019s office and Exxon did not respond to requests for comment Saturday. Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, said the laws have been upheld in court \u201cand we continue to have confidence in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly shocking that one of the biggest polluters on the planet would be opposed to transparency,\u201d Gallegos said. <\/p>\n

In 2024, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, California Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau Federation and other groups also sued the state <\/a>over the same laws. While a judge denied a preliminary injunction<\/a> from the business groups, the case is proceeding. A trial date is expected in Oct. 2026.<\/p>\n

In his 41-page decision<\/a>, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II wrote that while the laws do regulate commercial speech, the chamber failed to show they unlawfully restrict 1st Amendment speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaintiffs argue they will be irreparably harmed by SBs 253 and 261 because the laws compel speech in violation of the First Amendment,\u201d the George W. Bush appointee wrote. \u201cAs plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the laws violate the First Amendment, they have also not shown irreparable harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the new complaint, the Air Resources Board solicited public input on the rule-making process but has not yet responded to ExxonMobil\u2019s Sept. 5 letter outlining its disagreements with the proposed reporting methods.<\/p>\n

ExxonMobil contends that the legislative history shows that the bills seek to \u201cplace disproportionate blame on companies like ExxonMobil for being large and for the avowed purpose of spurring public opprobrium,\u201d according to the lawsuit. <\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia may believe that companies that meet the statutes\u2019 revenue thresholds are uniquely responsible for climate change, but the 1st Amendment categorically bars it from forcing ExxonMobil to speak in service of that misguided viewpoint,\u201d the complaint said.<\/p>\n

\"Mobil <\/p>\n

An ExxonMobile gas station in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Michael Gerrard, a leading climate change legal expert<\/a> at Columbia University, said in response to a message from The Times that the suit reflected \u201cExxon\u2019s pattern of aggressively pushing back\u201d against any climate change-related regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese laws do not require Exxon to make any changes in the way it produces, transports, refines or sells oil. They are just about information that Exxon doesn\u2019t want to provide to the public,\u201d Gerrard said. \u201cIf Exxon thinks any of the information would be misleading, it\u2019s free to explain why so that readers can draw their own conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the legislation say it discourages corporate greenwashing<\/a>, or marketing that falsely portrays a company\u2019s efforts to reduce climate-warming emissions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the full picture to make the deep emissions cuts that scientists tell us are necessary to avert the worst impacts of climate change,\u201d the bill\u2019s author, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), said at the time of its adoption.<\/p>\n

A separate bill, SB 261<\/a>, requires corporations with revenue over $500 million to disclose their climate-related financial risks and the measures they have taken to reduce and adapt to them. It is currently estimated to affect more than 2,600 companies in the state.<\/p>\n

For instance, a company with coastal factories would be required to detail how rising sea levels could threaten its facilities, while a car manufacturer might need to report on how changing consumer demand for electric vehicles could affect its operations. These reports and analyses would then be published on the company\u2019s website. <\/p>\n

In its lawsuit, ExxonMobil said the law would force it \u201cto engage in granular conjecture about unknowable future developments and to publicly disseminate that speculation on its website.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit names as defendants California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, Air Resources Board chair Lauren Sanchez, executive officer Steven S. Cliff and two officials in the board\u2019s Industrial Strategies Division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ExxonMobil has filed suit in federal court challenging two California laws that would require the oil giant to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":334382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[165602,1582,276,285,638,165603,165599,98047,165600,2961,379,224,5337,75784,158916,8808,165601,49207,27754],"class_list":{"0":"post-334381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-30-page-complaint","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-company","13":"tag-corporate-climate-disclosure","14":"tag-exxon","15":"tag-exxonmobil","16":"tag-greenhouse-emission","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-lawsuit","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-new-law","22":"tag-oil-giant","23":"tag-reporting","24":"tag-scope","25":"tag-senate-bill","26":"tag-suit"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115441860048496108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}