After repeated losses in climate courtrooms, the same NGOs leading the legal crusade against the oil and gas industry has a new target: plastics manufacturers. The latest campaign was on full display at this year’s Climate Week in New York City, where government officials and activists made clear they’re shifting focus to another key part of the U.S. economy.
Most notably, California Attorney General Rob Bonta summed up the climate week mood by threatening more lawsuits:
“Each and every time they violate the law, they hurt my state, my people, we will sue them, we will take them to court. So far that’s meant more than one a week. We definitely have more lawsuits planned.”
Petrochemicals play an essential role in everyday consumer products while also supporting critical industries such as healthcare, packaging, automotive, and manufacturing. To keep pace with rising global demand, the global plastics market is expected to expand significantly, with the overall plastics market projected to grow from $533.59 billion in 2025 to $754.23 billion by 2032. Additionally, the U.S. plastics industry is one of the nation’s most powerful economic engines generating $1.1 trillion in economic output.
Yet instead of working with industry to promote advanced recycling and circularity, activists have decided to once again ignore consumer concerns and economic feasibility in favor of courtroom theatrics.
Since many of the oil and gas companies targeted by climate activists are also involved in the petrochemicals industry, it’s not a huge surprise to see the same coordinated, billionaire funded attacks take shape against another key component of the U.S. economy. What’s particularly notable is the overlap of the same funders, policymakers and recycled arguments against the industry as multiple climate lawsuits continue to be dismissed.
California Sets the Wrong Example…Again
One year after California Governor Newsom announced the state’s climate lawsuit, Bonta decided to file yet another lawsuit – this time targeting plastics recycling – coordinated with a suit by four environmental NGOs using nearly identical claims.
Like the failed climate cases, this lawsuit leans on shaky public nuisance and “deception” theories, alleging companies misled consumers about recyclability. It’s another taxpayer-funded attempt to score political points rather than practical results.
Groups like the Plastic Pollution Coalition are also copying California’s approach, blaming both fossil fuels and plastics for climate change in a circular argument with little scientific support.
Similar to the “climate costs” reports published by the Center for Climate Integrity, which are used as a tool to garner media attention and recruit plaintiffs for climate cases, the Plastic Pollution Coalition recently issued an analysis attempting to link the plastics industry to the 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles.
As American Chemistry Council (ACC) spokesperson Matthew Kastner explained after the filing:
“It is disappointing that legal action has diverted time and resources away from our industry’s efforts to scale up a circular economy for plastics, where more plastics are reused and remade instead of discarded.”
Billionaires Fund Another Industry Attack
As Energy in Depth has long analyzed, the climate lawfare campaign is far from a grassroots effort. Rather it is a calculated, billionaire-funded effort driven by groups like the Rockefeller Family Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies to dismantle U.S. energy security.
RFF, which helped bankroll dozens of climate lawsuits, is now backing California’s recycling case. As the Wall Street Journal noted:
“…The Rockefeller Family Fund, a charity run by the great-great-granddaughter of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller Sr., is funding or providing other support for over 30 of those cases.”
What’s more, groups supported by RFF have spread deceptive recycling claims against industry under the guise of “scientific reports.” Circling back to CCI’s report last year tracked decades of alleged deception around plastics recycling. CCI doubled down on its efforts in May, releasing another report attacking plastics, this time on advanced recycling.
A new player, Australian billionaire and founder of mining giant Fortescue, Andrew Forrest, has joined the fray through his Minderoo Foundation, which funds the law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy representing NGOs in the California plastics case. Forrest’s foreign-backed involvement underscores that this campaign is less about recycling and more about dismantling U.S. energy from another angle.
According to a FARA filing, Minderoo “owns and controls” the Intergenerational Environmental Justice Fund (IEJF) which is the organization that retained the law firm. Seeing the same climate lawfare funders enter the plastics litigation space makes it clear: this is only another way to dismantle U.S. energy.
Lawsuits Will Keep Coming. Now What?
While Bonta pledges to keep suing, Governor Newsome has gone quiet – perhaps realizing the political risks of his administration’s courtroom climate crusades. Meanwhile, Forrest has been more vocal, boasting:
“So yes, I find people who are willing to stand up to corporate giants, and they’ve delegitimized that by coming straight after me. So great, do that. As I’ve said before, sue me and I’ll put you in a witness box.”
Fortunately, Congress is stepping up to increase scrutiny and criticism of third-party litigation financing, including in relation to climate and plastics lawfare. For example, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight Subcommittee chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) held a hearing shining a light on the deep pockets and hidden agendas behind these types of lawsuits. If Congressional pressure heats up, perhaps AG Bonta and Forrest will be less willing to blatantly attack U.S. companies and instead work with industry to provide essential energy and consumer products in innovative and sustainable ways.
Bottom Line: The recent anti-plastics movement is nothing new. It is just another political ploy to vilify the energy sector and push climate policy through the courts. With climate lawsuits falling flat, opponents are scrambling to keep their campaign alive.
