Sacramento, CA — In response to the reports that California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris is launching an investigation of Exxon Mobil over their knowledge of climate change and attempts to mislead the public, 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben issued the following statement:

“California’s action means that the world’s eighth largest economy is now probing the world’s richest fossil fuel company for lying about the greatest problem the planet ever faced. I’d say this means this scandal isn’t going away. With Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s ongoing case in New York, there’s now a coast-to-coast investigation into all Exxon knew about climate change. With the climate changing at the pace it is, we can’t afford for the Department of Justice and Loretta Lynch to dawdle.”

Last October, McKibben committed an act of civil disobedience and was arrested at an Exxon station in Burlington, Vermont. He has written extensively about the need to investigate Exxon Mobil after revelations that it had known about climate change for decades but spent millions to mislead the public and block action to address the crisis. Recent reports revealed that these climate lies were not exclusive to Exxon, but also shared by their industry peers with the American Petroleum Institute.

On October 30, 350.org and a coalition of nearly fifty environmental and civil rights groups issued a joint letter calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Exxon Mobil. Tens of thousands have signed onto petitions with the same demand.

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