WSJ What’s News - Thousands of Lebanese Flee as Israel-Hezbollah Fighting Flares

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

A.M. Edition for Sept. 24. The WSJ’s Rory Jones updates us on Israel’s intensifying military campaign against Hezbollah. Plus, we interview California Attorney General Rob Bonta about the message he hopes to send by suing Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading consumers about the recyclability of plastic products. And, China cuts interest rates and dangles loans for stock-market investors amid concerns that its economy risks missing its growth target. Luke Vargas hosts.  Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lebanese flee their homes as Israel edges closer to all-out war with Hezbollah. Plus Donald Trump threatens tariffs on farm equipment maker deer over made-in-Mexico equipment imported to the U.S. And we speak with California's attorney general about his lawsuit alleging ExxonMobil misled the public about the recyclability of plastics. There's policy pathways, there's activist pathways, but broadly yes, litigation is a very critical pathway to accountability and ultimately change.

It's Tuesday, September 24th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We begin in Lebanon, where the country is reeling a day after Israeli strikes targeted more than 1,300 locations as part of an effort to degrade Hezbollah's military infrastructure. But with hundreds reported dead, including women and children, the risk of further escalation that could lead to an all-out war is now as high as it's been since 2006, when the two

sides engaged in a deadly month-long conflict. Journal Middle East reporter Rory Jones is tracking the situation for us today. Rory, our colleagues on the PM edition of the podcast relayed the news yesterday that according to Lebanese authorities, almost 500 people were killed in yesterday's attacks, along with more than 1600 people who were injured. What are we hearing this morning? Has fighting resumed? Yeah, fighting's continued overnight. Israel has launched dozens of strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to rocket fire from Lebanon into Israel into northern Israel.

Lebanese are fleeing the south, the roads are packed with cars as people are moving from the south towards Beirut. So the situation is still uncertain and the outlook and where this goes in the next few days is unclear. Ultimately unclear, though I imagine we may be expecting more from Israel, not least because they recently added a new official goal for their ongoing war of pushing back Hezbollah far enough from the Israeli border that some 60,000 Israelis evacuated from northern Israel can return home and that situation hasn't come about yet. Yeah, Hezbollah, far enough from the Israeli border that some 60,000 Israelis evacuated from northern Israel can return home and that situation hasn't come about yet.

Yeah, well, so Israel's saying we don't want war, but it's sort of clear that Israel and Hezbollah are on the brink of war or arguably already at war. Israel today announced that it is calling this campaign in Lebanon Northern Arrows. And so Israel is already characterizing this as a military campaign in Lebanon. And so what could come next is just a further spiraling in fighting that leads to more rocket attacks from Hezbollah, more airstrikes from Israel,

and potentially even a ground invasion by Israeli forces to push Hezbollah further back from the Israeli border. Journal Middle East reporter Rory Jones. Rory, thank you so much. Thanks, Luke. Donald Trump has threatened to subject farm equipment maker deer to 200 percent tariffs if it sold equipment made in Mexico in the United States. Deere in June said it would move production of some construction loader models from Iowa to Mexico after similarly outsourcing production of cabs for large farm tractors in 2022.

It disputed, however, any suggestion it's moving a lot of its manufacturing business to Mexico, with the company saying it had invested over $2.5 billion in its US factories in the past four years and remains fully committed to its American manufacturing footprint. Neither Trump nor his aides have made clear how his tariff plans would affect Mexico, which enjoys generally tariff-free access under a US-Mexico-Canada trade deal negotiated during his first term. And if you want to hear more about what a potential Harris or Trump administration might

mean for the economy and ultimately your money, check out the Journal's personal finance podcast Your Money Briefing. Their special series Your Money, Your Vote is running on Sundays up through October 6th. China's central bank has announced an unusually broad package of measures to support the economy, an indication of growing unease in Beijing amid signs it risks missing an annual growth target of around 5%. The People's Bank of China said today that it would cut its benchmark interest rate and lower the amount of cash that banks need to hold in reserve, a bid to free up more resources

for lending. It also indicated that further easing would come before year-end and set aside about $70 billion for loans to help buy Chinese equities and prop up the country's stock market. Chinese property and bank stocks rose following the announcement. And in other news moving markets today, Australia's central bank has kept interest rates steady. While other countries have grown increasingly confident that inflation is under control, Australia is contending with a tight jobs market along with a migration wave that's

driven up prices for housing and services such as child care. And on deck today, Car Parts retailer AutoZone will report earnings before the opening bell, while consumer confidence data for September is slated for 10 a.m. Eastern. Coming up, California Attorney General Rob Bonta on the message that he hopes to send by suing ExxonMobil for allegedly misleading consumers about the recyclability of plastic products. That's after the break. Introducing TD Insurance for Business with customized coverage options for your business. Because at TD Insurance, we understand that your business is unique, so your business

insurance should be too. Whether you're a shop owner, a pet groomer, a contractor, or a consultant, you can get customized coverage for your business. Contact a licensed TD Insurance Advisor to learn more. Last night, we told you about how the state of California has sued oil giant ExxonMobil, accusing the company of misleading the public about the recyclability of plastics and of polluting the state. It is the latest step in a probe begun two years ago by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who's seeking civil penalties against Exxon, and whose suit also comes as Exxon and other oil companies face dozens of lawsuits across the U.S. seeking billions of dollars for environmental harms and for

deceiving the public about the impact of climate change. A broader context that I asked Bonta about last night as he was traveling between events in New York for climate week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Attorney General Bonta, thank you so much for being with us. Welcome to What's News. Honored to join you. Thanks for having me, Luke. The suit that you filed Monday makes repeated mention of harms to Californians and alleged

violations of California state laws, but it also invokes alleged global harms. Is that the role of a state attorney general to be looking out for those global harms? Absolutely, yes. We look out for harms that are global in nature and have an impact in California. And global harms generally do, unfortunately, have an impact on the

largest state in the nation the fifth largest economy in the world and this is no exception and it is the role of the Attorney General to stand up for my people my state my values our resources and and this is a prime example of that and of course what harms California is part of the lying and deception of a multinational global corporation. Could I jump in on that last point? Two things that this lawsuit accuses Exxon of are untrue or misleading advertising and misleading environmental marketing.

Many of us in recent years have become familiar with the term greenwashing, which at least I had come to think of as being disingenuous, but maybe not illegal. I get the sense you perhaps see that differently. Not just me, the law sees it differently and it's illegal as a corporation to deceive, to falsely advertise, to have untruthful marketing and they've done all the above and they're all set forth in our complaint. The core of the case is that ExxonMobil has engaged in a decades-long campaign of deception, advancing the idea that recycling of plastic products, including single-use plastics, is sustainable and good for the environment. 95% of plastic waste in the United States of America is never recycled.

And they knew that but lied about it in order to boost sales of their product. Beyond the specifics of this case and what you see as misleading disingenuous messaging around recycling. Is there a broader message you're trying to send on how corporations talk about their environmental efforts, how they market around environmental activities that could be relevant to companies, industries beyond oil giants, for instance? Yes, it's a clear message. Don't lie. Don't deceive. Don't perpetuate a lie in order to

boost profits when you know it's untrue and it's harming the environment or people's health. And the law, the California's unfair competition law, our false advertising law, our environmental marketing law, all create that duty and obligation on the part of corporations like ExxonMobil. We reached out to Exxon to invite them on the show and a spokesperson declined the offer, but they did send us a response to the California AG suit saying officials in California have known for decades that their recycling system isn't effective, that advanced recycling methods are effective, and that Exxon has processed more than 60 million pounds

of plastic waste into usable raw materials, keeping it out of landfills. Well, here with a bit more context on Monday's lawsuit, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Colin Eaton, who covers American oil companies out of our Houston bureau. Colin, we're here talking about plastics, not the line of business that many people would be first to associate with Exxon. Tell us about how important it is to Exxon's broader business. For the past few years, Exxon's chemical business has made up roughly 6% of the company's overall revenue, but they're seeing Plastic's demand growth kind of track GDP growth globally

as economies urbanize and use more Plastic in daily life, not only in things like cars and cell phones, but in simple things like food wrapping and the like. All right, so Plastic may be a growing revenue stream for Exxon going forward, though there are also potential liabilities and risks for them here too at a time when they face a slew of other lawsuits globally. That's right.

Exxon is facing over 30 lawsuits from AGs and local jurisdictions around the US. Those focus on Exxon's climate record and allege that Exxon has been deceiving the public for decades on the impacts of climate. This lawsuit filed Monday is similar in that it is arguing that Exxon knew its recycling technology is not as effective as it was purported to be. But Exxon has been fighting these lawsuits for years. Some of them filed in the mid 2010s, still haven't reached court. If history is any judge, Exxon will be fighting this lawsuit in terms of jurisdiction and

many other issues before it sees a courtroom. Journal reporter Colin Eaton, thank you so much for the update. Thanks Luke. And that's it for What's News for Tuesday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bulevent with supervising producer Christina Rocca. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.