Exxon Mobil adds to suit in climate change case

Exxon Mobil Corp. has sued New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to stop his investigation into what the company knew about climate change.

The oil giant last week revised a lawsuit it filed in June against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas ruled last week that the company could add New York to the case.

The company said in its filing that the two attorneys general were “conducting improper and politically motivated investigations of Exxon Mobil in a coordinated effort to silence and intimidate one side of the public policy debate on how to address climate change.”

Massachusetts, New York and other states are investigating whether Exxon Mobil violated securities laws and consumer-protection rules by withholding information allegedly obtained as early as the 1970s that man-made emissions were changing the climate.

A Schneiderman representative couldn’t be reached for comment.

If Exxon Mobil were found to have concealed such information, that could be a violation of the Martin Act, which gives the New York attorney general broad power to pursue fraud cases.

Schneiderman and other attorneys general, in an unusual step, held a press conference that included former Vice President Al Gore in March vowing to work together to combat climate change, including through the investigation of Exxon Mobil.

The company has alleged Healey and Schneiderman were biased and it has fought back in a Texas federal district court, where Judge Ed Kinkeade said there was reason enough to allow Exxon Mobil to seek documents from Healey that might show she prejudged the matter.

Healey argued in a filing last week that Texasbased Exxon Mobil was trying to use the Texas court to dodge an Oct. 26 order by a New York court to comply with a subpoena to turn over accounting documents about how climate change will affect its finances.