Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, along with her counterpart from the U.S. Virgin Islands, announced last week Exxon and other fossil fuel companies are being investigated by a multi-state coalition for fraud and suppression of climate change data, according to CommonDreams.
Speaking at a news conference, flanked by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who began the 16-state coalition last November; former Vice President Al Gore; and seven other Attorneys General, Healey said:
“Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change should be, must be held accountable… [There is a] troubling disconnect between what Exxon knew, what industry folks knew, and what the company and industry chose to share with investors and the American public.”
Schneiderman convened the coalition and began a state investigation after reports that oil giant Exxon knew and suppressed for decades the catastrophic effects of fossil fuel on the environment, and issued contradictory statements to deceive the public and increase profits.
AG Claude Earl Walker, U.S. Virgin Islands, said that Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are already “experiencing the effects of global warming.”
“It is troubling that, as the polar caps melt, there are companies that are looking at that as an opportunity to go and drill, to go and get more oil. How selfish can you be?” Walker asked.
The coalition includes Attorneys General from California, Connecticut, District Of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington state, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Former Vice President Al Gore, whose 2006 documentary film An Inconvenient Truth raised public awareness of global climate change, said,
“I really believe that years from now this convening …may well be looked back upon as a major turning point in the effort to hold to account those commercial interests…who have been deceiving the American people about the dangers of climate change.”
ExxonKnew.org, launched by climate change watchdog organization 350.org, will share information about the investigations and its mission to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their actions.
Featured image via Pixabay.
