{"id":411771,"date":"2025-11-06T08:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T07:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=411771"},"modified":"2025-11-06T08:40:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T07:40:33","slug":"cal-laws-compell-pc-climate-speech-exxon-sues-for-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=411771","title":{"rendered":"Cal Laws Compell PC Climate Speech, Exxon Sues for Free\u00a0Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tim O\u2019Brien explains the climate lawfare in his PJ article Is California Attempting to \u2018Suicide\u2019 Big Oil and Write the Suicide Note?<\/strong><\/a> Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes big corporations are their own worst enemies.<\/strong> They say things and do things that at the moment sound good and perhaps win an immediate PR battle, but those same words or positions can come back to bite them later.<\/strong> Such is the case for ExxonMobil. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2006,<\/strong> almost 20 years ago, the company\u2019s then-CEO Rex Tillerson told the New York Times<\/a><\/strong> that a company report had acknowledged the link between the consumption of fossil fuels and rising global temperatures, saying, \u201cWe recognize that climate change is a serious issue.\u201d He then added, \u201cWe recognize that greenhouse gas emissions are one of the factors affecting climate change.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This massive<\/strong> gesture of appeasement<\/strong> was a major concession, and it awarded a huge victory to climate alarmists.<\/strong> In that same article, the Times suggested that if Tillerson was successful, ExxonMobil would \u201cno longer be the oil company that environmentalists love to hate.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
Climate Activists storm the bastion of Exxon Mobil, here seen without their shareholder disguises.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How\u2019d that work out? Did they back off of ExxonMobil<\/strong> and other big oil companies as a result? No, they ramped up the pressure<\/strong> so steadily and so heavily that over the years, \u201cclimate change\u201d activists led ExxonMobil by the nose.<\/strong> It went full bore into \u201csustainability,\u201d<\/a> and it even supports the Paris Agreement<\/a>, also known as the Paris Climate Accord. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of incremental surrender to the left, the company now<\/strong> finds itself in the position of having to sue the state of California over a pair of 2023 \u201cdisclosure laws\u201d<\/strong> that amount to the state mandating what companies can and cannot say about certain climate change matters. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Last week, the company sued California<\/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on claims that Senate Bills 253 and 261 \u201ctrumpet California\u2019s message.\u201d<\/strong> The message in question, apparently, is that big oil and other major companies are \u201cuniquely responsible for climate change.\u201d<\/strong> In its lawsuit, Exxon Mobil said it considers this sort of message as \u201cmisleading.\u201d The suit challenges both laws on grounds that they are First Amendment violations. The intent of the litigation is to stop these laws from going into effect in 2026. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The climate alarmists<\/strong> and their entire sector are portraying the laws<\/strong> as requiring basic \u201cclimate-related transparency.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But if you dig into these laws, it reminds me of that old saying about free speech. It goes like this: \u201cCommunist China believes in free speech. So long as you say what the government likes, you can say whatever you want.\u201d<\/strong> That pretty much sums up this situation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specifically, ExxonMobil contends that to comply, it would need to
rely on \u201cframeworks that place disproportionate blame
on large companies like ExxonMobil.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 253<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gov. \u201cSlick\u201d Newsom signed Senate Bill 253<\/a> (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) into law in 2023. It requires big companies to disclose a wide range of emissions,<\/strong> and not just the stuff coming out of their industrial pipes and smoke stacks. They\u2019d even have to report \u201cdirect and indirect emissions\u201d<\/strong> that would include quantitative measurement of and a cost for employee business travel and product transport. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen some of this type of internal tracking and reporting up close, and it\u2019s ridiculous. It\u2019s all in line with ESG<\/a> measurements and processes that are inconsistent at best. Just as often, it\u2019s a scoring system built on \u201cWild A** Guesses.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Senate Bill 261<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 261<\/a> (or the Climate-related Financial Risk Act ) gets even more pointedly at the First Amendment issues at play. This law requires<\/strong> businesses that generate more than $500 million per year to \u201cdisclose\u201d the financial impacts and risks they face from climate change, and how they will respond. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More to the point, ExxonMobil said that if it even tried to comply with this law, it would have to guess on things it can\u2019t even know about in advance. Essentially, it would have to try to predict the future and put those predictions on its own website. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the same time, the suit points out that Exxon doesn\u2019t even have
any crude oil or natural gas exploration, production, manufacturing,
transport or refining operations in California. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the First Amendment issue, in ExxonMobil\u2019s case, the company is expected to argue that both laws require companies to speak publicly in specific ways.<\/strong> The laws don\u2019t simply mandate that the company disclose factual data on past activities and results, but rather that it must speculate in ways it cannot reasonably and responsibly do. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This is \u201ccompelled speech.\u201d While the First Amendment<\/strong> protects the right to speak, it also protects the right not to have the government force you to speak<\/strong>, or to incorporate the government\u2019s desired message. This is known as the \u201ccompelled speech doctrine<\/a>.\u201d While it is usually described as it pertains to individual rights, there is some history of commercial businesses running into this same issue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What all of this amounts to is it seems that as industries go, California is attempting to \u201csuicide\u201d Big Oil, and<\/strong> it even wants to write the suicide note for the industry.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes big corporations are their own worst enemies.\u00a0They say things and do things that at the moment sound good and perhaps win an immediate PR battle, but those same\u00a0words or positions can come back to bite them later.\u00a0Such is the case for ExxonMobil.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":411792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore how ExxonMobil's lawsuit against California challenges new climate disclosure laws and raises First Amendment concerns.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"ExxonMobil Sues California Over Climate Speech Restrictions","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691839344,691818068,691829370,691818056,691819194,691818228],"class_list":{"0":"post-411771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-suicide-big-oil","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-gov-gavin-newsom","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-exxonmobil","13":"tag-fossil-fuels","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQMLPEvGcObAQee4XbTNDD94B1fULsphl4Xc__-I2-e6LR1g3SGz8w_UEpS9zkyrhLb6YeJKA14yLIAZnXfKDzVp80kgg44qT8Kpig0E_ojkeyQa8grVpZzfNuZxWTLBn-PSWQPNsPdYOloVEE5AIMNQIL2bcQ.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1J7t","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":428719,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428719","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":0},"title":"ExxonMobil Strikes Back: Judge Greenlights Defamation Suit Against California AG Over Recycling Claims","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"California, under Attorney General Rob Bonta (and previously in broader actions with Governor Gavin Newsom), has pursued aggressive legal actions against \"Big Oil\" companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips.","rel":"","context":"In \"Big Oil\"","block_context":{"text":"Big Oil","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=big-oil"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":219936,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=219936","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":1},"title":"\u201cBig Oil vs The World\u201d: BBC Expos\u00e9 Fails (Episode II)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m disappointed, I\u2019m angry, I\u2019m disenchanted at the duplicity exhibited by ExxonMobil to say one thing internally and to say a different thing with a much different consequence in the political arena.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1026.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1026.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1026.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1026.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239385,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239385","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":2},"title":"New Harvard Study Proves Exxon Scientists Far Superior at Predicting Climate than the IPCC or James Hansen","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m sure Russell Cook will have lots to say about this study. I can\u2019t wait.\u00a0I\u2019m sure their blatant attempt at sophistry was not meant to reach the conclusion in my title. Emphasis mine below.~cr","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279322,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279322","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":3},"title":"\u2018ExxonKnew\u2019: More Correction","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A sober look at the \u201cExxonKnew\u201d campaign reveals an anti-fossil-fuel agenda inspiring a myopic view of the company\u2019s old investigations into carbon dioxide (CO2).","rel":"","context":"In \"anti-fossil-fuel agenda\"","block_context":{"text":"anti-fossil-fuel agenda","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=anti-fossil-fuel-agenda"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":212981,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=212981","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":4},"title":"ExxonMobil Joins Left\u2019s Climate\/Energy Agenda (H.R. 5376)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It is a sad day when ExxonMobil, once a bastion of climate and energy realism and good business, goes all-in with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The transformation began when it surrendered the high ground on climate\/energy early in Obama\u2019s first term by embracing the CO2-is-bad narrative of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-367.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-367.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-367.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-367.png?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239494,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239494","url_meta":{"origin":411771,"position":5},"title":"No, Exxon was wrong on warming and didn\u2019t know anything","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"More fake news from the climate-industrial complex.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-588.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-588.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-588.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-588.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-588.png?fit=1200%2C845&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=411771"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411794,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411771\/revisions\/411794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/411792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=411771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=411771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=411771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}