California is suing ExxonMobil, a first-in-the-nation case accusing the oil giant of tricking consumers into thinking their plastic products are recyclable.

It’s a landmark case, filed by the state of California with a simultaneous action brought by four major Bay Area environmental groups. The lawsuit claims that ExxonMobil, the world’s largest producer of the polymers that are used to make single-use plastic, has for decades misled consumers by promoting the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol and implying that most of the plastics that bear that symbol can be recycled, when in fact only about 5% really are. Attorney General Rob Bonta says ExxonMobil produces the largest amount of plastic waste, which is fouling oceans and beaches and is turning up in human bloodstreams through microplastic particles that we inhale and ingest. KCBS has asked ExxonMobil for comment on the suit but we have not yet heard back.

For more on this, KCBS Radio anchor Holly Quan and KCBS Insider Doug Sovern were joined by Professor Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law School’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. He leads the Climate Change and Business Research Initiative at both Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law. This is The State of California.