Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey now has the authority to further investigate ExxonMobil and it’s role in climate change after the Supreme Court declined to hear the company’s appeal of a ruling handed down in April.
The ruling came from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirming Healey’s “authority to investigate Exxon Mobil and ordering the company to turn over documents to the AG’s Office,” a press release stated. But ExxonMobil tried to block the AG’s investigation in lower courts, EcoWatch reported.
But yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court “clears the way for our office to investigate Exxon’s conduct toward consumers and investors,” Healey tweeted.
Today’s #SCOTUS victory clears the way for our office to investigate Exxon’s conduct toward consumers and investors. The public deserves answers from this company about what it knew about the impacts of burning fossil fuels, and when. https://t.co/BljXQzcY49
— Maura Healey (@MassAGO) January 7, 2019
“The public deserves answers from this company about what it knew about the impacts of burning fossil fuels, and when,” she said.
Healey’s investigation were launched after InsideClimate New and The Los Angeles Times investigations in 2015 reported that “Exxon scientists and executives understood for decades that its products drive global warming,” EcoWatch reported.
“Today’s decision is yet another defeat for Exxon in their fight to hide the fact that they have known for 50 years that their products cause climate change,” Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement. “Deception and delay are Exxon’s core climate strategies. Today the court dealt the company yet another defeat in their fight to hide the fact that they have known for 50 years that their products cause climate change.
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