(task) Justice Department Under Pressure To Investigate ExxonMobil For Climate Change Cover-Up

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petro, fraud, corruption, climate change

> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exxon-climate-change-investigation_5633a7c1e4b00aa54a4dfafc <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exxon-climate-change-investigation_5633a7c1e4b00aa54a4dfafc>
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> Justice Department Under Pressure To Investigate ExxonMobil For Climate Change Cover-Up
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> Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, right, under pressure to investigate ExxonMobil for climate fraud.
> WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidates and environmental groups are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate whether ExxonMobil has been deliberately covering up the truth about climate change for years.
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> Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week said she supported an investigation into the company. "There’s a lot of evidence <http://350action.org/hillary-clinton-calls-for-federal-investigation-of-exxon/> that they misled," she said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
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> The outrage began last month, when InsideClimate News <http://insideclimatenews.org/news/15092015/Exxons-own-research-confirmed-fossil-fuels-role-in-global-warming> and the Los Angeles Times <http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/> reported that Exxon scientists knew decades ago -- as early as 1977 -- that fossil fuels contribute to global warming. Nevertheless, the company has sowed doubt about man-made climate change since then.
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> Exxon has denied <http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/10/15/exxonmobils-commitment-to-climate-science/> suppressing climate research and publicly acknowledged the need to address the problem. But the company has also contributed <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/science/earth/09climate.html> to organizations like the American Petroleum Institute and the Heartland Institute, which promote <http://www.economist.com/node/21555894> climate-change denial.
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> On Friday, a coalition of civil rights and environmental leaders sent a letter <http://350.org/the-department-of-justice-must-investigate-exxonmobil/> to the DOJ, asking the government to investigate Exxon.
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> "Given the damage that has already occurred from climate change -- particularly in the poorest communities of our nation and our planet -- and that will certainly occur going forward, these revelations should be viewed with the utmost apprehension," they wrote. "They are reminiscent -- though potentially much greater in scale -- than similar revelations about the tobacco industry."
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> Clinton's competitors for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-exxon-investigation_5626a0cce4b08589ef496854> (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), both previously said they support an investigation.
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> We held tobacco companies responsible for lying about cancer. Let’s do the same for oil companies & climate change. http://omly.us/1RfPi0U  <http://t.co/mS4fMEEduy>— Martin O'Malley (@MartinOMalley) 4:22 PM - 16 Oct 2015 <https://twitter.com/MartinOMalley/status/655116504699027456>
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> A spokesman for the Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letters but declined to comment further.
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> The strategy to pressure the DOJ gained steam earlier this month when a George Mason University scientist wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The scientist, joined by 20 of his colleagues, asked her to investigate energy companies under anti-racketeering laws for propagating climate change misinformation. These laws were successfully used against tobacco companies for misleading the public about the dangers of cigarettes.
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> Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science Space and Technology Committee, got wind of the letter and all but threatened to investigate <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lamar-smith-climate-scientists-free-speech_56141b80e4b0368a1a615a7e> the lead scientist in the group for what Smith called an inappropriate use of public funds. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) later took up the scientists’ cause and sent their own letter <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exxon-climate-change-cover-up_562133a2e4b08d94253eff49> to Lynch.
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> Also on HuffPost:
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> Climate Change Denials Make More Sense As ‘Sharknado 3’ Reviews
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