ExxonMobil alleges that California is violating the First Amendment by setting specific standards for how certain companies report those emissions and the associated climate risks. Under laws the state passed in 2023, \u201cExxonMobil will be forced to describe its emissions and climate-related risks in terms the company fundamentally disagrees with,\u201d a complaint filed<\/a> Friday says. The suit asks a US District Court to stop the laws from being enforced.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest in an ongoing saga over how transparent companies should be about their impact on the climate<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest in an ongoing saga over how transparent companies should be about their impact on the climate. California has set higher standards than many companies follow in their sustainability reports. That, plus the state\u2019s enormous economy, has allowed it to raise the bar for corporate climate disclosures even as the federal government moves in the opposite direction<\/a>. ExxonMobil\u2019s accusations that the state is compelling corporations to adopt its views on climate change also follow a landslide of allegations that ExxonMobil has misled consumers<\/a> about the impact its products would have on the environment.<\/p>\n One of the laws ExxonMobil is suing over, SB 253, requires companies doing business in California with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to disclose their emissions according to internationally recognized standards set in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol<\/a>. The company already publicly shares data on its greenhouse gas emissions, but says it disagrees with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol\u2019s methods. The big tussle is over requirements to include emissions from a company\u2019s supply chain, electricity use, and consumer use of its products \u2014 considered \u201cindirect\u201d emissions<\/a>. Those indirect emissions often make up the majority of a company\u2019s carbon footprint<\/a>, and SB 253 would require full disclosure of them by 2027.<\/p>\n ExxonMobil\u2019s suit, however, claims that including indirect emissions leads to double counting. It would mandate that the company claim tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks that burn their fuels, for example, while the owners of those vehicles might also claim those emissions in their reporting.<\/p>\n The other law in dispute, SB 261, says that companies earning more than $500 million in annual revenue need to disclose financial risks they face from climate change, such as how coastal flooding or more extreme weather<\/a> might impact their business, by January 2026. The suit calls such disclosures \u201cspeculative,\u201d requiring \u201cthe company to engage in granular conjecture about unknowable future developments.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the Biden administration, the SEC proposed similar rules at the federal level, which it ultimately weakened<\/a> after facing pushback from industry over requirements to disclose indirect emissions. This year, the SEC<\/a> under the Trump administration announced<\/a> that it would no longer defend those rules<\/a> in court.<\/p>\n Separately, ExxonMobil is embroiled in another suit<\/a> California filed against it last year<\/a> over plastic pollution. That suit claims that the company \u201cdeceived Californians for almost half a century by promising that recycling could and would solve the ever-growing plastic waste crisis.\u201d Plastics are made from fossil fuels and are difficult to recycle; less than 10 percent of plastic waste has ever been recycled<\/a>. ExxonMobil subsequently filed a defamation<\/a> lawsuit against the California Attorney General in January over the disputed recycling claims.<\/p>\n California filed another suit<\/a> in 2023<\/a> against multiple oil and gas companies including Exxon, alleging their \u201cdeceptive and tortious conduct was a substantial factor in bringing about these devastating climate change impacts in California,\u201d including more intense heat, droughts, wildfires. Over the past decade a series of investigations<\/a> into ExxonMobil<\/a>, as well as peer-reviewed research<\/a>, have shown how the company\u2019s own scientists accurately predicted climate change while publicly dismissing the issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n ExxonMobil\u2019s latest suit now says the company \u201cunderstands the very real risks associated with climate change and supports continued efforts to address those risks,\u201d but that California\u2019s laws would force it \u201cto describe its emissions and climate-related risks in terms the company fundamentally disagrees with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese laws are about transparency. ExxonMobil might want to continue keeping the public in the dark, but we\u2019re ready to litigate vigorously in court to ensure the public\u2019s access to these important facts,\u201d Christine Lee, a spokesperson for the California Department of Justice, said in an email to The Verge. 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