New York Is Investigating Exxon Mobil for Allegedly Lying About Climate Change

Photo of the Exxon Valdez via NOAA on Flickr

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On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office subpoenaed oil giant Exxon Mobil for allegedly lying to the public and shareholders about the dangers of climate change, as the New York Times reports.

The LA Times and Inside Climate News reported this fall that scientists at the seventh-largest publicly-traded company in the world were aware of fossil fuels’ impact on global warming as early as the late 70s, and did what they could to account for it in their business practices. The New York probe will also reportedly touch on whether the company cooked climate research.

Wednesday’s subpoena comes after federal investigations into the company were backed by Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley, along with a bunch of environmentalists who wrote an open letter to the Justice Department last week.

For his part, Kenneth P. Cohen, VP for Public Affairs at Exxon Mobil, told the Times, “We unequivocally reject the allegations that Exxon Mobil has suppressed climate-change research.” A spokesperson also said that the accusations “are inaccurate distortions of ExxonMobil’s nearly 40-year history of climate research that was conducted publicly in conjunction with the Department of Energy, academics and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”