Conservative groups on Thursday called for a congressional probe into the tactics behind last month’s climate lawsuit against Exxon Mobil filed by the Democratic attorney general of New York, sending letters to several Senate and House committees to request investigations.
FreedomWorks, along with three other conservative groups, want the lawmakers to begin probing media reports that say billionaire Michael Bloomberg and New York University have helped funnel activist lawyers to several of the attorneys general offices behind the climate change lawsuit against Exxon, calling it an abuse of taxpayer funds.
“This campaign places lawyers who are cherry picked for their environmental activism within select attorney general offices, all of them currently held by Democrats,” the letter reads. “Using Bloomberg’s vast resources, the Law Center hires the ‘Special Assistant Attorneys General’ and makes them available to state attorneys general providing that they promise to deploy these Bloomberg-funded government officials to make cases that promote an anti-energy industry agenda.”
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood was behind October’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil for misleading the public on the effects of climate change. But the groups point out that New York is merely one recipient of Bloomberg’s funding.
“To date, Mr. Bloomberg’s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center has embedded activist lawyers in nine states, all with Democrat attorneys general,” the letter reads — New York, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington state, as well as Washington, D.C.
The purpose of Bloomberg’s agenda is to “advance progressive positions” on clean energy and climate change “under the guise of law enforcement,” the letter continues. The groups allege that the attorneys general trade office space and public power in exchange for “pro bono” attorneys and public relations services.
“This is a concerted effort to use private money to dictate state law enforcement decisions nationwide,” the groups argue. “It should raise red flags and spur independent oversight.
The letter was sent to both the Senate and House energy, judiciary, science, and oversight committees.
Other groups that signed onto the letter included Frontiers of Freedom, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, and the Institute for Liberty.
