ExxonMobil Investor Fraud Decision Leaves Door Open for Broader Climate Damages Lawsuits

Statement by Ken Kimmell, President Union of Concerned Scientists

Published Dec 10, 2019

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (December 10, 2019)—New York Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager ruled today that New York Attorney General Letitia James failed to establish that ExxonMobil violated the anti-fraud Martin Act with its climate risk disclosures. Attorney General James alleged that for years ExxonMobil used two sets of numbers to estimate business investment costs: one disclosed publicly to shareholder that factored in the cost of global warming emissions, and another set used privately that assumed much lower climate costs. The decision leaves door open for broader climate damages lawsuits, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Below is a statement by Ken Kimmell, president of UCS.

“While today’s decision was not what many hoped for, it will have little bearing on the larger efforts to hold ExxonMobil accountable for years of climate science deception. As the judge himself stated, ‘Nothing in this opinion is intended to absolve ExxonMobil from responsibility for contributing to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases in the production of its fossil fuel products.’

“ExxonMobil is not off the hook. As climate impacts worsen and become costlier, more frontline communities, political leaders and investors will demand accountability from the companies that created this crisis. While Judge Ostrager was writing his opinion in this case, the Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines ruled that fossil fuel companies could be found legally liable for climate harms. More than a dozen communities within the U.S. are already suing such companies for their fair share of local climate damages.

“ExxonMobil will no doubt continue using its vast legal and financial resources in an effort to block the oncoming onslaught of litigation, regulations and climate policies. But, like the once untouchable tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, the fossil fuel industry’s day of reckoning will come, and ExxonMobil will face consequences for distorting science and deceiving the public about the dangers of its product.”