Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference on Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
The lawsuit was applauded by state Democrats and national climate advocacy organizations like Earthjustice, Mighty Earth, Friends of the Earth US, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Stand.earth.
"JBS repeatedly claims that it will reach net zero by 2040. This claim was found to be misleading and yet JBS continues to assert it," said Peter Lehner, an attorney at Earthjustice. "While it is critical for every company to reduce its climate change impact, JBS would need to implement enormous operational changes to achieve this goal. However, JBS is doing very little and is not taking anywhere close to the steps that would be required."
UN CLIMATE SUMMIT SERVING GOURMET BURGERS, BBQ AS IT CALLS FOR AMERICANS TO STOP EATING MEAT
In her announcement and lawsuit, James pointed to several instances in which JBS USA and its executives made pledges to reduce the company's impact on the environment. She also stated the company – which has a market cap of more than $10 billion and whose North American beef business earns tens of billions of dollars annually – has acknowledged consumers are more interested in sustainable products.
Cows and calves are herded to pasture on a ranch near Boulder, Colorado. (Reuters/Rick Wilking)
James' lawsuit comes as environmental groups and lawmakers worldwide increasingly set their sights on the agriculture industry. The global food system – which includes land-use change, actual agricultural production, packaging and waste management – generates about 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of 34% of total worldwide emissions, according to a 2021 study published in the Nature Food journal.
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President Biden's international climate envoy John Kerry warned last year that decarbonization would be impossible without a concerted effort from the agriculture industry to achieve green goals.
"We can't get to net-zero, we don't get this job done unless agriculture is front and center as part of the solution. So all of us understand here the depths of this mission," Kerry said.
Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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