#ExxonKnew is Dead: Top Three Things to Know
Friday September 9, 2016
With the Science Committee set to hold a hearing on Congress’ oversight jurisdiction, in light of the state attorneys general engaged in #ExxonKnew investigations refusing to turn over documents, it’s worth having a look exactly how the #ExxonKnew strategy – the attempt to link ExxonMobil to Big Tobacco – has completely failed, with even New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman leaving it for dead. Here are the top three things to know:
#1. After intense criticism, Schneiderman changes strategy, abandoning #ExxonKnew
In a surprising August interview with the New York Times, Schneiderman completely abandoned the #ExxonKnew campaign – now claiming his investigation is no longer about what “Exxon knew” but instead about what it “predicts.” From the Times article:
“But in an extensive interview, Mr. Schneiderman said that his investigation was focused less on the distant past than on relatively recent statements by Exxon Mobil related to climate change and what it means for the company’s future.
In other words, the question for Mr. Schneiderman is less what Exxon knew, and more what it predicts.
For example, he said, the investigation is scrutinizing a 2014 report by Exxon Mobil stating that global efforts to address climate change would not mean that it had to leave enormous amounts of oil reserves in the ground as so-called “stranded assets.”
A Bloomberg article published this week essentially explains why Schneiderman was forced to retreat. As Bloomberg succinctly puts it, “Schneiderman doesn’t have a slam-dunk case”:
“Schneiderman doesn’t have a slam-dunk...