Exxon station
NEW YORK - The ongoing trial in New York City is giving ExxonMobil another chance to show that nonprofits, private lawyers, and elected officials have for years targeted the company as a scapegoat for climate change.
Exxon, currently fighting claims from the New York Attorney General’s Office that its climate change statements misled stockholders, previously convinced a Texas judge that lawsuits against it in California were the products of a conspiracy involving Rockefeller money and lawyer Matt Pawa.
Court records show Exxon plans to introduce a draft agenda from a 2016 Rockefeller Family Fund meeting featuring Pawa, which was also part of its argument in the Texas case. The agenda outlined “common goals” such as:
“To establish in public’s mind that Exxon is a corrupt institution that has pushed humanity (and all creation) toward climate chaos and grave harm.”
“To delegitimize them as a political actor.”
“To force officials to disassociate themselves from Exxon, their money, and their historic opposition to climate progress, for example by refusing campaign donations, refusing to take meetings, calling for a price on carbon, etc.”
“To drive Exxon & climate into center of 2016 election cycle.”
The agenda identified state attorneys general as a primary means of advancing these goals. While New York AG Letitia James’ case went to trial last week, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey filed a similar lawsuit.
In March 2016, then-New York AG Eric Schneiderman — who later resigned following assault allegations — led the “AGs United for Clean Power” press conference that publicly condemned Exxon. Before that event, Pawa and Peter Frumhoff of the Union of Concerned Scientists conducted workshops with AG office members, though the details remain confidential.
After the press conference, Pawa emailed Lemuel Srolovic, bureau chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the New York AG’s office, about a Wall Street Journal reporter’s request for comment.
“A WSJ reporter wants to talk to me. I may not even talk to her at all but if I do I obviously will have no comment on anything discussed at the meeting,” Pawa wrote. “What should I say if she asks if I attended? No comment? Let me know.”
Srolovic responded: “My ask is if you speak to the reporter, to not confirm that you attended or otherwise discuss the event.”
Exxon says Srolovic later signed a “Climate Change Coalition Common Interest Agreement,” designed to protect information shared at the meeting.
“In this litigation, NYAG has invoked the common interest privilege to withhold documents,” Exxon states.
At the time, Pawa was operating his own law firm. He now works at Hagens Berman, one of two major firms representing government clients on contingency in climate lawsuits across the U.S. Judges reviewing motions to dismiss have agreed with defendants like Exxon that these lawsuits are improper because climate policy should be determined by legislative and executive branches, not the courts.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) has given $270,000 to the Niskanen Center, a nonprofit promoting climate litigation in Colorado. RBF — created by the Rockefeller family, whose fortune originated in oil — has divested from fossil fuels and spends millions on climate initiatives. New York City made a similar move when it filed its own lawsuit.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has also played a role, granting nearly $6 million to NYU School of Law’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center to send special prosecutors to AG offices to advance climate initiatives. New York received two of these lawyers, whose salaries are paid through NYU, not public funds. When then-AG Barbara Underwood filed New York’s lawsuit against Exxon, one of the Bloomberg-funded attorneys signed the complaint.
This led the Government Justice Center, Inc., of Albany to file an ethics complaint with the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, naming Underwood and special assistant AGs Matthew Eisenson and Gavin McCabe.
“Special assistant attorneys general ultimately paid by billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are engaged in specious litigation against fossil-fuel companies on behalf of New York,” the complaint says.
Initially, Washington, D.C., and six states — Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, and Washington — were chosen for the first phase of this NYU fellowship program. In December, Oregon, Virginia, and Pennsylvania joined. A total of 14 NYU fellows were placed in AG offices nationwide, all paid exclusively through NYU, not public funds.
“The fellows program creates a financial incentive for NYAG to pursue and prioritize investigations and enforcement actions in line with the Center’s agenda,” Exxon says. “The Center can also reward NYAG with renewal or expansion of its participation in the fellows program if the Center is pleased with NYAG’s performance.”