In a series of blog posts last year on a website known as “ExxonMobil Perspectives,” the company’s then-General Counsel Kenneth Cohen characterized the reports as products of “anti-oil and gas activists” who “cherry-picked documents” to distort the Irving, Texas-based company’s treatment of climate research.
More States
“With more states jumping on board, these investigations are sure to generate some serious waves,” May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, an environmental advocacy group, said in an e-mailed statement. “We’ll be looking for the Department of Justice and many more cities and states to get involved.”
Attorneys general William Sorrell of Vermont, George Jepsen of Connecticut, Brian E. Frosh of Maryland and Mark Herring of Virginia were among those in New York on Tuesday for the announcement of the climate change coalition.
“With gridlock and dysfunction gripping Washington, it is up to the states to lead on the generation-defining issue of climate change,” Schneiderman said in the statement. “Our offices are seriously examining the potential of working together on high-impact, state-level initiatives, such as investigations into whether fossil fuel companies have misled investors about how climate change impacts their investments and business decisions.”
In California, state senators are considering a bill that would extend the statute of limitations on a law that prohibits companies from engaging in deceptive or misleading advertising to 30 years from four years. The legislation must be taken up in committee before it can head to a floor vote.
“Our environment and economy face grave risks from climate change, including unprecedented heat and wildfires, severe drought and sea level rise,” the bill’s author, Senator Ben Allen of Santa Monica, said in a statement. “This legislation will give law enforcement the tools to hold companies accountable for hiding evidence of their products’ devastating impacts and for their role in delaying action to address this crisis.”