A federal judge in Texas is questioning the motivations behind a Democratic state attorney general’s investigation into oil giant Exxon Mobil over climate change.
Judge Ed Kinkeade of the federal district court of Texas issued a preliminary discovery order Thursday in which he said he suspected Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey acted in “bad faith” by subpoenaing the company for decades of records and emails on the issue of climate change.
Healey and some other Democratic state attorneys general, have been prodding Exxon and conservative free-market groups for months, looking to build a case that shows the company committed fraud by covering up evidence that climate change threatened its business. Many scientists blame greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels for driving manmade climate change.
The investigation was based on news reports by InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times that showed the company deliberately covered up studies by its own scientists in the 1970s that showed climate change would harm the oil company’s long-term business prospects.
Exxon is asking the court to bar Healey from continuing her investigation, saying it is an imposition on its right to free speech under the Constitution. The company also refutes the claims that it tried to cover up its own studies, and said it currently advocates for actions to combat the threat of climate change.
The judge wants Healey to fork over documents that would help him understand the basis for her investigation. Opponents of the probe say the federal court could unravel the Democrats’ efforts by revealing what emails and other documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests have shown — that the investigation is based on specious facts and is driven by politics, not policy, the law or science.
“We know from FOIA’d emails that the AGs in Schneiderman’s climate coalition tried to hide behind a Common Interest Agreement, which would keep their correspondence on the Exxon investigations secret,” according to a blog posted by the oil industry-backed group Energy In Depth. “But sunlight is the best disinfectant, they say, and that is exactly what taxpayers will get [as] a result of today’s action.”
Critics say it would certainly help Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith’s efforts in subpoenaing the attorneys general in an investigation he began in the summer. Smith is the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argue that he has no authority to probe their investigations into Exxon and have refused to cooperate.
The court’s discovery order would mean Exxon would be privy to any documents the court receives from Healey in complying with the order.
“The court finds the allegations about Attorney General Healey and the anticipatory nature of Attorney General Healey’s remarks about the outcome of the Exxon investigation to be concerning to this court,” the order read. “The foregoing allegations about Attorney General Healey, if true, may constitute bad faith,” and if so would force the court to take action.