Timeline

2015

NOV. – The New York attorney general issues a subpoena to Exxon Mobil for documents and records related to climate change.

2016

MARCH – A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general announces plans to investigate climate change denial. Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands also say they will join New York in investigating Exxon Mobil.

APRIL – Exxon Mobil sues the U.S. Virgin Islands’ attorney general in Texas federal court, claiming its investigation constitutes an abuse of government power. The oil company would later sue the Massachusetts and New

York attorneys general.

MAY – Republicans on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee send letters to state attorneys general and activist groups, warning their actions may “amount to an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.”

JUNE – U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker withdraws his subpoena to Exxon Mobil, citing concerns about the cost of bringing a case against the oil giant. SEPT. – Exxon Mobil is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for potentially failing to properly report to investors the risks of climate change to its business.

2017

MARCH – A Texas federal judge sends Exxon Mobil’s lawsuit to New York court, citing jurisdictional concerns. But in his order, he questioned whether the investigation was intended to “squelch public discourse by a private company that may not toe the same line as these two attorneys general.”

JUNE – New York attorney general files a memorandum in the New York Supreme Court accusing Exxon Mobil of using a lower carbon price than it publicly describes to its investors in determining the risks climate change regulation to its business.