Image:A view of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, Texas in this file photo from September 15, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi/Files
(Reuters) – The New York attorney general has launched an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil Corp
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed the company on Wednesday evening, demanding extensive financial records, emails and other documents, a source familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.
Exxon on Thursday confirmed it had received the subpoena, and that it was assessing its response, adding that has been including information about the business risk of climate change for many years in its quarterly filings, corporate citizenship report and in other reports to shareholders, Exxon spokesman Richard Keil said.
The New York Times first reported the news earlier on Thursday. (http://nyti.ms/1HuEJC8)
The Exxon Mobil investigation might expand to other oil companies, according to the people with knowledge of the case, though no additional subpoenas have been issued, the newspaper said.
Sources told the New York Times that the attorney general’s investigation began a year ago and encompasses company filings dating back to the 1970s.
Last month, a broad array of environmental groups demanded the U.S. Department of Justice investigate Exxon after a series of news reports said the company’s own scientists raised worries about global warming decades ago only to see their findings doubted by executives.
However, Ken Cohen, vice president of public and government affairs at Exxon, accused environmental groups of deliberately cherry-picking facts and said for nearly 40 years the company has worked with governments and universities to develop climate science in a transparent way.
Coal miner Peabody Energy Corp
(Reporting by Natalie Grover and Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Lisa Shumaker)
Copyright 2015 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
