Do you spend time sorting all your plastic waste into different containers for recycling? According to California's top prosecutor, you've been deceived by Big Oil into wasting most of that time and effort because all that plastic ends up polluting the environment anyway.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday announced he is conducting an investigation into the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for their role in "causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis," according to a press release.
As part of the investigation, Bonta has issued a subpoena to ExxonMobil –
which he said is a major source of global plastics pollution – seeking information relating to the corporation’s role in "deceiving the public."
"For years, the public has been aggressively deceived by some of the largest and most influential corporations in the world," Bonta said Thursday at a news conference from Dockweiler State Beach in Southern California, the site where plastic debris must be cleaned up daily.
Bonta accused oil companies of pushing a narrative that all plastics are recyclable, when in reality they knew that wasn't feasible.
"The truth is, the vast majority of plastic cannot be recycled," he said. "The truth is the recycling rate has never surpassed 9%."
As a result, more than 90% of plastic waste is buried in landfills, burned or dumped into the environment.
In addition, plastic production in the world has increased from 1.5 million tons annually in the 1950s, to more than 300 million tons now — with plans to increase that production in the coming decades. Much of that plastic production has been driven by large oil companies, Bonta said.
Over the course of a lifetime, the average American will unknowingly consume more than 40 pounds of plastic per day and a credit card sized amount of plastic per week, the release said.
"This first-of-its-kind investigation will examine the fossil fuel industry's role in creating and exacerbating the plastics pollution crisis – and what laws, if any, have been broken in the process," Bonta said in a press release.
The investigation will focus on the alleged deception over the last 50 years, and "the ongoing harm caused to the State of California, its residents" and "natural resources," according to the release.
ExxonMobil has not responded to calls for comment from KCBS Radio.
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