Could a Legal Case Save Humanity From Climate Disaster? Exxon Could Face a Big Comeuppance

[Ferd Berfel]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/could-legal-case-save-humanity-climate-disaster-exxon-could-face-big-comeuppance



Corporate accountability expert Katherine Sawyer discusses the case that could force the fossil fuel industry to pay for its lies about climate change.


For the past few months, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating ExxonMobil to determine if the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company lied to the public or investors about the risks of climate change to its future business, based on the firm’s own internal studies. In November, Schneiderman issued a subpoena demanding a wide range of documents, including emails and financial documents.

The New York Times reported that the inquiry “would include a period of at least a decade during which ExxonMobil funded outside groups that sought to undermine climate science, even as its in-house scientists were outlining the potential consequences — and uncertainties — to company executives."

Kenneth P. Cohen, the company's vice president for public affairs, vehemently denied the accusations. “We unequivocally reject the allegations that ExxonMobil has suppressed climate change research.” He added that the company had "funded mainstream climate science since the 1970s, had published dozens of scientific papers on the topic and had disclosed climate risks to investors.

California’s AG, Kamala D. Harris, launched a similar investigation.......