Golden State Today

California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Alabama v. California. The Court declined to entertain an original action challenging civil enforcement actions by California and four other states against oil and gas companies for alleged deceptive conduct.

"We are pleased with the Court’s decision to deny the original action motion from Alabama and other states," said Attorney General Bonta. "California is suing oil and gas companies for engaging in a decades-long campaign to deceive Californians about the climate harms of their products in our state. We will continue to do our part to ensure that those who break our laws and harm our residents are held accountable under state law and are looking forward to continuing to litigate this case in state court."

In September 2023, Attorney General Bonta announced a lawsuit against five major oil and gas companies—Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP—and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The lawsuit alleges a long-term campaign of deception causing climate change-related harms in California. In June, Bonta amended his complaint to include disgorgement under AB 1366 (Maienschein, 2023), requiring defendants to relinquish profits gained through illegal conduct.

Last May, Alabama and 18 other Republican-led states filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to prevent five states—California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—from pursuing climate-deception lawsuits against energy companies in their state courts. California argued that an original action was unwarranted as their legal actions are within traditional state authority to protect consumers from deceptive practices.