https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/10/26/in-a-loss-for-exxonmobil-ny-supreme-court-orders-oil-giant-to-produce-climate-documents/
In a loss for ExxonMobil, NY Supreme Court orders oil giant to produce
climate documents
By Steven Mufson October 26 at 5:45 PM
In a loss for ExxonMobil, the New York State Supreme Court has ordered
the oil giant and its accounting firm to produce documents subpoenaed in
a highly charged investigation of whether the company concealed from
investors and the public what it knew about climate change as long as
four decades ago.
The New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who issued a
subpoena in August, sought on Oct. 14 to force PricewaterhouseCoopers to
provide the documents after ExxonMobil said it would not permit PwC to
provide certain documents based on a Texas statute that Exxon said
provided “accountant-client privilege.”
The New York Court ruled that Exxon’s interpretation of the Texas
statute was “flawed,” and said the Texas statute does not preclude PwC
from producing the documents requested by the New York attorney
general’s office. The court also stated that New York law, rather than
Texas law, governed the dispute.
“We are pleased with the Court’s order and look forward to moving
full-steam ahead with our fraud investigation of Exxon,” Schneiderman
said in a statement. “Exxon had no legal basis to interfere with PwC’s
production, and I hope that today’s order serves as a wake up call to
Exxon that the best thing they can do is cooperate with, rather than
resist, our investigation.”
ExxonMobil, however, said it would challenge the order. “We respectfully
disagree with the court’s ruling and intend to take an immediate
appeal,” said ExxonMobil spokesman Alan T. Jeffers in an email. The
company could appeal to the New York state appellant division and later
to the Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
The legal maneuvering is the latest round in a dispute over whether
ExxonMobil knew decades ago that climate change was a real threat and
whether it improperly concealed that information from investors and the
public. That could be a violation of the Martin Act, which gives the New
York attorney general broad power to pursue fraud cases. Schneiderman
and other attorneys general, in an unusual step, held a press conference
in March vowing to work together to combat climate change, including
through the investigation of ExxonMobil.
Exxon has asserted that it did not conceal material information and
accused the attorneys general of having a political agenda. The company
said the subpoenas alone would chill companies’ internal research and
free speech.
ExxonMobil has produced more than a million pages of documents, but it
has also asked a Texas federal court to issue a preliminary injunction
blocking the need for the company to comply with similar subpoenas
issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. U.S. District
Court Judge Ed Kinkeade of Texas did not grant the injunction, but on
Oct. 13 he issued a discovery order for ExxonMobil to examine Healey’s
internal documents and records to determine whether she acted in “bad
faith” in issuing her subpoena. ExxonMobil later asked the judge to add
Schneiderman’s name to the order.
Healey has asked the court to vacate its order and dismiss Exxon’s suit.
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel