ExxonMobil is attempting to evade a growing investigation into its campaign to suppress science about climate change, asking a federal court this week to throw out a subpoena that would force the oil giant to hand over decades of documents to a coalition of state attorneys general.
In its filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth, Exxon argued that the subpoena from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey violated Constitutional amendments on free speech, equal protection, and unreasonable search and seizure.
Healey is part of the coalition investigating whether Exxon intentionally deceived its shareholders and the public about the threat of global warming after its decades-long campaign to suppress climate science was revealed in 2015 by the Los Angeles Times and InsideClimate News. Healey’s subpoena also seeks communications between the oil company and free-market business groups that expressed doubt about the efficacy of contradicting evidence of global warming, Reuters reports.
Healey’s office said it was reviewing the motion, but climate advocates said the filing should not be taken seriously.
“No company has a First Amendment right to knowingly provide misinformation about the harm associated with its product,” Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Thursday. “State attorneys general, including in Massachusetts, have every right to investigate whether the company’s actions amounted to an actionable fraud.”
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