California began legal action Monday against oil giant ExxonMobil over a "decades-long campaign of deception" about plastics recycling that has worsened a global pollution crisis. In a lengthy lawsuit filed in San Francisco, the state's attorney general said the company had used "slick marketing" to deceive consumers into believing single-use plastics could and would be recycled, when the vast majority of them get dumped into the environment. Rob Bonta's suit seeks to force ExxonMobil, a major producer of the polymers used to make plastics, to pay for the clean-up of some of the millions of tons of plastic that pollute land and water, as well as to educate consumers about the problems caused by their products, landing them with a bill he said could amount to billions of dollars.
"Plastic contaminates our drinking water, strangles our wildlife and blights our landscapes," Bonta told reporters. "Microplastics have been found in our lungs, maternal and placental tissue, breast milk and blood. "What solution does ExxonMobil give us? Plastic, recycling: a farce, a lie, a deceit.
" "Since the 70s, ExxonMobil has known the truth about plastic pollution and recycling, and still publicly promotes the myth that plastic recycling is the answer. ExxonMobil knows that the vast majority of plastic products are not and likely cannot be recycled." The lawsuit is the latest in a rash of legal claims against oil and gas companies over a mounting environmental crisis wrought in large part by hum.