Exxon Mobil is suing the lawyers who are suing it over climate change, in what Bloomberg calls “a bare-knuckle approach rarely seen in legal disputes.”
According to Bloomberg, “So far, New York City and eight California cities and counties, including San Francisco and Oakland, have sued Exxon and other oil and gas companies.”
In response, Exxon Mobil “has targeted at least 30 people and organizations, including the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, hitting them with suits, threats of suits or demands for sworn depositions. The company claims the lawyers, public officials and environmental activists are ‘conspiring’ against it in a coordinated legal and public relations campaign.”
Exxon Mobil denies allegations that it covered up information about climate change, thus defrauding shareholders and consumers, and says its aggressive defense is intended to show that it is being punished for not toeing the line on climate change, even though it agrees with the scientific consensus.
“The attorneys general have violated Exxon Mobil’s right to participate in the national conversation about how to address the risks presented by climate change,” said Dan Toal, a lawyer who represents Exxon. “That is the speech at issue here -- not some straw man argument about whether climate change is real.”
