WASHINGTON (AP) – Escalating a political fight over global warming, a Republican House chairman issued subpoenas Wednesday to two Democratic state attorneys general, seeking records about their investigation into whether Exxon Mobil misled investors about man-made climate change.
Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Science Committee, is pursuing records from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey along with nine environmental, scientific and philanthropic organizations. Smith insisted he acted only after they refused for months to give the panel information lawmakers had requested on the Exxon Mobil case.
Smith, who is among a large group of congressional Republicans who reject mainstream climate science, said Schneiderman and Healey were pursuing “a political agenda” on behalf of environmental groups that are fighting Exxon over decades-old research related to climate change.
The groups accuse Exxon of hiding early findings showing a link between global warming and the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. Exxon denies that it suppressed findings from its own research that dates back more than 30 years.
Smith and other Republicans portrayed the issue as a matter of free speech, charging that Schneiderman, Healey and their allies were trying to intimidate scientists and others who question man-made climate change.