Exxon probe is
unconstitutional, Republican prosecutors say
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[April 21, 2017]
By Emily Flitter
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - A group of 11 Republican state attorneys general are
protesting an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil Corp.
violated consumer protection laws when selling fossil fuel products,
according to a court filing.
Top prosecutors for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan,
Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, all of
whom are Republicans, filed a brief in U.S. District Court in Manhattan
supporting a lawsuit by Exxon to halt a probe by New York Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura
Healey.
Schneiderman and Healey, both Democrats, are looking at whether the
company violated consumer protection laws by selling fossil fuels while
failing to reveal information about the effects of burning them on the
global climate.
In their brief, the attorneys general said Healey and Schneiderman were
abusing their power and violating Exxon's rights to free speech by
"using law enforcement authority to resolve a public policy debate" over
whether carbon emissions cause climate change, a debate they claim is
not settled.
The brief cites a May 17, 2016, article in the conservative magazine the
National Review by Scott Pruitt, who at the time was attorney general
for Oklahoma and earlier this year was appointed by President Donald
Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming "scientists
continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and
its connection to the actions of mankind."
An overwhelming majority of scientists believe that carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels is a major contributor to global
climate change, triggering sea level rise, droughts and more frequent
violent storms. Pruitt said in a CNBC interview on March 9 that he did
not agree carbon dioxide emissions were a "primary contributor" to
climate change.
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An Exxon sign is seen at a gas station in the Chicago suburb of
Norridge, Illinois, U.S., October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young
"The
attorneys general have raised important constitutional and legal issues in
support of our position that the investigations by New York and Massachusetts
are politically based and in bad faith," said Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri,
adding that the probes were "an attempt to silence political opponents who
disagree on the appropriate policies to address climate change."
In 2015, Schneiderman reached a settlement with Peabody Energy after a similar
probe of whether the coal company appropriately conveyed its financial risks
associated with climate change. The company agreed to change language in its
public statements as part of the settlement.
"We will continue to pursue our fraud investigation under New York law, despite
attempts by Exxon and Big Oil's beneficiaries to delay and distract from the
serious issues at hand," said Schneiderman's spokeswoman, Amy Spitalnick.
The case is Exxon Mobil Corporation v. Healy, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 17-cv-02301.
(Reporting by Emily Flitter, Brendan Pierson and Karen Freifeld; Editing by
Leslie Adler)
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