Exxon must turn over climate change documents, Mass. court rules

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

The supreme court of Massachusetts ruled against Exxon Mobil on Friday in the oil and gas giant's efforts to prevent the state from obtaining internal documents for its investigation into whether the company misled investors and the public about the risks of climate change.

The state attorney general's office began investigating Exxon following the publication of leaked documents in 2015 that appeared to show the company knew of the significant role that burning fossil fuels played in climate change.

The documents were initially published in an investigative report by InsideClimate Times and later by the Los Angeles Times.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that attorney general Maura Healey had the jurisdiction to investigate alleged climate-related offenses by Exxon, including whether the company violated the state's consumer protection laws in its marketing of products.

"The Attorney General's investigation concerns climate change caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions — a distinctly modern threat that grows more serious with time, and the effects of which are already being felt in Massachusetts," the court said. "More particularly, the investigation is premised on the Attorney General's belief that Exxon may have misled Massachusetts residents about the impact of fossil fuels on both the Earth's climate and the value of the company."

Exxon did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the ruling.

The case had been appealed to the state supreme court by Exxon, which lost its original attempt to block the investigation.

The court found that internal correspondence showed Exxon did not alert the public or investors of the public health risks, as required by the state, and "instead sought to undermine the evidence of climate change altogether, in order to preserve its value as a company."

Healey called the ruling "very affirming" but said Exxon had yet to provide a "single document" to her office.

"For the second time this month, Exxon’s scorched earth campaign to block our investigation has been entirely rejected by the courts," she said in a statement. "Now Exxon must come forward with the truth, what it knew about climate change, when, and what it told the world. The people of Massachusetts — and people everywhere — deserve answers.”