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US-JUSTICE-CLIMATE-ENERGY
Massachusetts claims ExxonMobil misled on climate change
NEW YORK, Oct 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The US state of Massachusetts on
Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing oil giant ExxonMobil of misleading
investors on the impacts of climate change, following similar litigation in
New York.
“Exxon has known for decades about the catastrophic climate impacts of
burning fossil fuels — its chief product,” Massachusetts Attorney General
Maura Healey said in a statement detailing the lawsuit filed in a Boston
court.
“Yet, to this day, Exxon continues to deceive Massachusetts consumers and
investors about the dangerous climate harms caused by its oil and gasoline
products… We are suing to stop this illegal deception and penalize the
company for its misconduct.”
The lawsuit accuses Exxon of making “significant factual misstatements”
that would have “been material to decisions by Massachusetts investors to
purchase, sell, retain, and price ExxonMobil securities and by Massachusetts
consumers to purchase ExxonMobil oil and gasoline products,” the statement
read.
As early as 1982, Exxon had predicted the precise amounts of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere by 2019, and the “catastrophic” effect these emissions,
largely caused by fossil fuels, would have on the climate, the statement
said.
Rather than sharing this research, the statement said, “Exxon engaged in a
decades-long campaign to deceive consumers and investors about the climate-
related impacts of its products that continues to this day.”
Environmental organizations have for years accused Exxon of hiding what it
knew about the effects of its activities on the climate, and Massachusetts’s
lawsuit affirms the determination of several states governed by Democrats to
take the oil giant to court over the allegation.
Exxon called the allegations “meritless.”
“The Massachusetts attorney general’s office has filed a baseless complaint
three years after announcing its politically motivated investigation, during
which they have not interviewed a single ExxonMobil employee or gathered one
piece of evidence from the company,” a spokesman said in a statement to AFP.
A similar lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general in October 2018 went
to trial earlier this week.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0937 hrs