ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against California in the U.S. Eastern District Court, seeking to block two 2023 climate disclosure laws set to take effect next year.
The giant oil and gas corporation claims the laws infringe on its free speech rights by forcing it to accept a narrative that unfairly blames large companies like itself for climate change.
The big picture: ExxonMobil reports it has already publicly disclosed its greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related business risks for years, but fundamentally opposes the new state-mandated reporting frameworks.
- The complaint states California’s requirements unfairly use methodologies that emphasize a company’s global emissions, effectively penalizing firms simply for their size rather than their efficiency or actual emission levels.
Zoom in: Senate Bill 253 mandates large businesses disclose a wide array of planet-warming emissions, covering both direct and indirect sources, including emissions linked to employee travel and product transportation.
- ExxonMobil objects to this methodology, arguing it assigns disproportionate blame to large corporations such as itself.
- Senate Bill 261 requires companies with annual revenues over $500 million to disclose the financial risks climate change poses to their operations and outline mitigation plans.
- ExxonMobil protests that SB 261 forces companies to speculate on “unknowable future developments” and to publicize these speculative assessments on their websites.
- The company alleges this speculative disclosure requirement is unreasonable and potentially misleading to the public and investors.
