Judge Rejects Exxon's Attempt to Shut Down Climate Fraud Investigations

With a sharp rebuke, a federal judge on Thursday rejected Exxon's attempt to shut down two state investigations into whether the oil giant misled investors for years about the risks of climate change.

The attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts are
 investigating whether Exxon's questioning of climate change
science and downplaying of its risks constituted fraud against the public and investors. 

U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed Exxon's complaint with prejudice, meaning the company can't refile it.

In the first line of her ruling, the judge describe Exxon's actions as "running roughshod over the adage that the best defense is a good offense.”

"The relief requested by Exxon in this case is extraordinary: Exxon has asked two federal courts—first in Texas, now in New York—to stop state officials from conducting duly-authorized investigations into potential fraud," she wrote. "It has done so on the basis of extremely thin allegations and speculative inferences.”

Read the Inside Climate News story - “Judge Rejects Exxon's Attempt to Shut Down Climate Fraud Investigations.”