ExxonKnews

Share this post

After being sued for deception, Exxon brings lies to the courtroom

www.exxonknews.org

After being sued for deception, Exxon brings lies to the courtroom

We’re fact checking Exxon’s claims from last week’s Massachusetts hearing

ExxonKnews
Mar 19, 2021
3
Share this post

After being sued for deception, Exxon brings lies to the courtroom

www.exxonknews.org

A friendly reminder: If you don’t already receive weekly updates from EXXONKNEWS, you can sign up for them below. And please share!


Last week, lawyers for the oil giant were in court for their latest effort to escape accountability for lying to the public about climate change. This time it was to ask a Massachusetts state judge to dismiss Attorney General Maura Healey’s 2019 lawsuit that challenges the corporation’s ongoing campaign to mislead consumers about the climate-driven risks posed by fossil fuel products.    

We aren’t going to get into the legal minutiae of the arguments here. But for a newsletter called EXXONKNEWS, one thing stuck out to us in particular. In his opening statement, the attorney for Exxon, Justin Anderson of the firm Paul, Weiss, told the judge the following: “ExxonMobil — for the better part of the last decade — has recognized that climate change presents a challenge, that climate change is real and it presents a challenge to governments on how to address it.”

We know Exxon lies (it’s why they keep getting sued), but this is rich, even for them. “The better part of the last decade”?! That would mean Exxon did not recognize that “climate change is real and presents a challenge to governments” until … 2011, at the earliest. We know that’s not true — Exxon’s own scientists were sounding alarm bells about their products’ role in causing climate change as early as the 1970s.

So, this is a perfect time for us to revisit just a few examples of what #ExxonKnew about climate change, and when. Much of this information is known to the public only because of the work of journalists and whistleblowers. 

  • As early as 1977, as unearthed by InsideClimate News, senior Exxon scientist James Black told company executives in a presentation that “there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels.” 

  • In a 1978 written summary, Black said urgent action was needed because, “Present thinking holds that man has a time window of five to ten years before the need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategies might become critical.”

  • By 1981, Exxon employees were urging higher-ups to recognize that the results of climate change could be “catastrophic” and that failure to warn the public would be unethical. 

  • Rather than heed that advice, Exxon officials stated in an internal 1988 memo that the corporation’s position should be to “[e]mphasize the uncertainty in scientific conclusions regarding the potential enhanced greenhouse effect.” 

  • By the 1990s, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, Exxon, Mobil, and other oil companies “joined a multimillion-dollar industry effort to stave off new regulations to address climate change, [while] they were quietly safeguarding billion-dollar infrastructure projects from rising sea levels, warming temperatures and increasing storm severity.”

Exxon documents, 1981

Decades earlier than Exxon’s lawyer claimed, the corporation “recognized” the reality of climate change enough to spend money to protect its own assets from the damage. The company was so intent on protecting their profits that they spent decades lying about what they knew to prevent climate action, leaving the rest of us to pay the price — which is exactly why Healey and five other attorneys general have since taken the company to court. 

As former Exxon scientist Martin Hoffert testified in a 2019 Congressional hearing, “Exxon was publicly promoting views that its own scientists knew were wrong. This was immoral and has greatly set back efforts to address climate change.”

Twitter avatar for @climatecosts
Center for Climate Integrity @climatecosts
Throwback to... yesterday: "So they knew. And I presume they knew what some of the consequences of that 1°C change would be." - @AOC "Absolutely." #ExxonKnew #ClimateHearing
Image
1:39 PM ∙ Oct 24, 2019
9Likes4Retweets

Despite all this evidence, Exxon’s high-priced legal team still has the gusto to claim in court just last week that the corporation has only “recognized” that climate change is a “real” challenge since sometime in the 2010s. 

And what is causing this “challenge”? Throughout last week’s hearing, Exxon’s legal team carefully avoided any acknowledgement that fossil fuels are chiefly to blame for the climate crisis. In a bizarre twist, Anderson affirmed several times that Exxon’s view is that “fossil fuel products have a role to play in reducing emissions.”  

Twitter avatar for @maxinejoselow
Maxine Joselow @maxinejoselow
Exxon attorney says at hearing in Massachusetts climate case that Exxon "is advocating for a continued role for fossil fuels to play as governments here and around the world address the dual challenge of combating climate change while reducing GHG emissions." #climatelitigation
7:13 PM ∙ Mar 12, 2021
14Likes5Retweets

Got that? Exxon’s fossil fuel products that create the emissions that cause climate change …. will play a role in reducing emissions and combating that climate change. 

As lawyers for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office reminded the court, Exxon is facing this lawsuit exactly because they have lied to the public about the role of fossil fuel products in climate change and the climate risks they pose to their business and to consumers and investors in Massachusetts. 

"We brought this case against Exxon to put an end to decades of deception and lies," Attorney General Healey told E&E News this week. “...Our goals are simple: to stop Exxon from engaging in this illegal deception of Massachusetts consumers and investors and to hold it accountable for its misconduct.” 

The corporation’s efforts to escape and delay justice in this case are nothing new — we’ve seen them use similar tactics in more than 20 climate damages and fraud lawsuits they face across the country. Thankfully courts have largely rejected them so far, and we hope that trend continues. 

If Exxon loses this round, the people of Massachusetts will finally be one step closer to having their rightful day in court. 


ICYMI News Roundup

  • Chevron ‘Greenwashing’ Targeted in Complaint Filed With FTC

  • The Secret History and Uncertain Future of Big Oil’s Unfunniest Meme Website

  • Tiny Town, Big Decision: What Are We Willing to Pay to Fight the Rising Sea? 

  • Setback for Chevron, Other Oil Companies in Hawaii Climate Cases

Share EXXONKNEWS

Share this post

After being sued for deception, Exxon brings lies to the courtroom

www.exxonknews.org
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 ExxonKnews
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing