Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon) filed a motion for leave to add the Attorney General of New York as a defendant in the action in the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas in which Exxon seeks to bar enforcement of a civil investigative demand issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Exxon indicated that the New York attorney general’s “sweeping subpoena” issued in November 2015 seeking 40 years of climate change-related documents was issued in furtherance of the illegal objective of depriving Exxon of its constitutional rights. (Exxon’s filings included the <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/files/case-documents/2015/20151104_docket-na_subpoena.pdf">subpoena</a> itself, which had not previously been publicly available.) Exxon said that it initially cooperated with the New York attorney general’s investigation believing it would be “fair and impartial” but that subsequent events—including a March 2016 press conference at which state attorneys general pledged to use their enforcement powers to address climate change and the disclosure of a common interest agreement between state attorneys general—had revealed the political and “pretextual nature” of the investigation. In addition to adding the New York attorney general as a defendant, Exxon also sought leave to add claims of federal preemption and for conspiracy to deprive Exxon of its constitutional rights. In support of the preemption claim, Exxon contended that the attempt by the Massachusetts and New York attorneys general to impose liability on Exxon for failing to take into account future climate change regulation was at odds with Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations for incorporating assumptions about future events. 

Action by Exxon Mobil Corporation to bar enforcement of civil investigative demand issued by Massachusetts attorney general and subpoena issued by New York attorney general.


Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Schneiderman

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Exxon Sought to Block New York Attorney General Investigation in Texas Federal Court

Filed

United States of America

Texas

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives