California Attorney General Investigates the Oil and Gas Industry’s Role in Plastic Pollution, Subpoenas Exxon
By James Bruggers | April 30, 2022 | Inside Climate News
The oil and gas industry has a new battle to fight with California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s first-of-its-kind investigation into their role in the global plastics crisis—and it looks a lot like one they’ve been fighting over climate change.
Bonta on Thursday announced his investigation and said that his office had issued a subpoena to ExxonMobil over its role in the plastics crisis. By Friday, environmental advocates from California to New York were applauding, and environmental lawyers were pondering the similarities between Bonta’s investigation and ongoing efforts by states and cities to hold the oil and gas industry accountable in the courts for climate change.
Judith Enck, president of the environmental group Beyond Plastics and a former EPA regional administrator, called the investigation “very significant” because it has “the potential to finally hold plastic producers accountable for the immense environmental damage caused by plastics.” It will also “address the ongoing deception of claiming that plastics are recyclable when, in fact, less than 10 percent are actually recycled,” she said.
