Big Oil Firms Fail to Escape California’s Climate Deception Case

ExxonMobil Corp., BP Plc., Shell Plc. and other major oil producers lost their bid to shed a lawsuit from the California attorney general and local governments alleging they deceived the public about the causes of climate change.

Judge Ethan P. Schulman ruled Tuesday that the San Francisco Superior Court has jurisdiction over those companies and others named in the litigation, plus the American Petroleum Institute.

The legal claims brought by Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and a number of California cities arise from the companies’ promotion of fossil fuels and deceptive statements about climate change that occurred ...