Environmental groups are accusing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of protecting oil giant Exxon Mobil because of his administration’s refusal to join other states in probing the company about climate change.
“Attorney generals from 20 states have launched investigations for its misinformation on climate change, but New Jersey is not one of them,” Jeff Tittel, the head of Sierra Club New Jersey, said Wednesday evening. “This is not a surprise, but it’s an outrage.”
Tittel is responding to a number of states, including New York and Massachusetts this week, that announced probes into reports that the oil company covered up its own research that burning fossil fuels is causing global warming.
The Sierra Club says Christie received substantial financial support for his gubernatorial campaign from the company, which has a big presence in the Garden State.
“The governor has completely sold us out to Exxon who contributed to his campaign,” Tittel said. “We’re concerned about the governor’s connections to Exxon.”
Exxon Mobil gave a lot of money to the Republican Governors Association while Christie was chairman in 2014, he said.
Exxon Mobil lawyers also contributed to Christie’s campaigns, Tittel said. The former Republican presidential candidate has aligned with Tea Party states and with the Koch brothers to block the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate change agenda, the Clean Power Plan, he said.
Christie often defended the Koch brothers as RGA chairman, and they reportedly flirted with the idea of backing Christie in his presidential run. Christie dropped out of the presidential race and has come out as an avid supporter of GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
The Sierra Club, with state Democratic Sen. Raymond Lesniak and others, had pressed the New Jersey attorney general for an investigation into Exxon Mobil, but to no avail.
“Why haven’t we joined?” Tittel asked. “When it comes to Exxon lying about climate change, instead of investigating them, the Christie administration are looking the other way.”
