{"id":279246,"date":"2023-09-18T09:35:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T07:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279246"},"modified":"2023-09-18T09:35:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T07:35:28","slug":"exxon-knew-california-sues-oil-giants-for-committing-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279246","title":{"rendered":"Exxon Knew: California Sues Oil Giants for Committing Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangely the lawsuit does not include a demand oil giants immediately cease supplying their \u201ccatastrophic\u201d product to the State of California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

California sues oil giants, saying they downplayed climate change. Here\u2019s what to know<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 16, 20233:08 PM ET
By Juliana Kim<\/a>, Michael Copley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state of California has filed a sweeping climate lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, as well as the domestic oil industry\u2019s biggest lobby, the American Petroleum Institute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suit<\/a>, filed on Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that the companies misled the public for decades about climate change and the dangers of fossil fuels. It demands the companies help fund recovery efforts related to California\u2019s extreme weather events, from rising sea levels to drought and wildfires, that have been supercharged by human-caused climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOil and gas companies have privately known the truth for decades \u2014 that the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change \u2014 but have fed us lies and mistruths to further their record-breaking profits at the expense of our environment. Enough is enough,\u201d said Rob Bonta, California\u2019s attorney general<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California filed its lawsuit against Exxon and other oil and gas companies just a day after The Wall Street Journal<\/em> <\/a>reported that executives at Exxon continued in recent years to raise doubts internally about the dangers of climate change and the need to cut back on oil and gas use, even as the company publicly conceded that burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/a>Read more: https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/09\/16\/1199974919\/california-oil-lawsuit-climate-change<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The referenced Wall Street Journal article is paywalled, but there are no amazing new revelations in there. Exxon admitted CO2 contributes to global warming \u2013 but no stunning confession of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Californian lawsuit contains this gem;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Defendants are large companies in the fossil fuel industry who have misled consumers and the public about climate change for decades. Defendants have known since at least  the 1960s that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution that  would warm the planet and change our climate. Defendants\u2019 own scientists knew as early as the  1950s that these climate impacts would be catastrophic, and that there was only a narrow window  of time<\/strong> in which communities and governments could take action before the consequences  became catastrophic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Rather than warn consumers, the public, and governments, however, Defendants mounted a disinformation campaign beginning at least as early as the 1970s to discredit the  burgeoning scientific consensus on climate change<\/strong>; deny their own knowledge of climate change- related threats; create doubt in the minds of consumers, the media, teachers, policymakers, and  the public about the reality and consequences of the impacts of burning fossil fuels; and delay the  necessary transition to a lower-carbon future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FINAL-9-15-COMPLAINT.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Just one problem with this claim \u2013 there is plenty of evidence none of this is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the following is a copy of the Glaser 1982 memo, which was circulated to Exxon management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n