Exxon Mobil Against California's Climate Laws

Exxon Mobil Corporation is suing the state of California over two climate disclosure laws enacted in 2023. The company argues that these laws violate freedom of expression and require large corporations to be held solely responsible for climate change.

The Texas-based oil and gas giant filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District. The company is asking the court to block the laws from going into effect next year.

Although the company states that it has publicly disclosed greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related business risks for years, it is deeply at odds with California’s new reporting requirements. The lawsuit’s complaint emphasizes that large companies, particularly those like Exxon Mobil, will be forced to use frameworks that disproportionately blame them.

Under Senate Bill 253, large businesses will be required to disclose their planet-warming emissions across a wide range that includes direct and indirect emissions, such as employee travel and product transportation. Exxon Mobil argues that the state-mandated methodology blames businesses solely based on their size, focusing on their global emissions.

The second law, Senate Bill 261, requires companies earning more than $500 million annually to disclose the potential financial risks of climate change to their business and how they plan to address those risks.

The company states that this law will require it to speculate about uncertain future developments and publish those speculations on its website. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom's office stated in an email, “It’s truly shocking that one of the world’s largest polluters is pushing back against transparency.”