Democrats Send Big Oil Investigation to Justice Department
Source: Bloomberg
May 22, 2024 at 12:30 PM EDT
Updated on May 22, 2024 at 3:27 PM EDT
Democrats are asking the US Department of Justice to investigate major oil companies and their trade groups following a congressional probe that concluded the industry spent decades deceiving the public about climate change.
The three-year investigation, started by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, accused Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Plc, BP Plc, the American Petroleum Institute and US Chamber of Commerce of engaging in a public relations “campaign of deception and doublespeak” while internally acknowledging that fossil fuels caused climate change since the 1960s.
“We believe that there is adequate evidence that fossil fuel industry companies and trade associations may have violated one or more federal statutes and that, accordingly, further investigation is warranted,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Jamie Raskin wrote in a May 22 letter to the Justice Department.
The American Petroleum Institute issued a statement criticizing the move by Democrats as “unfounded political charade to distract from persistent inflation and America’s need for more energy, including oil and natural gas.”
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-22/big-oil-investigation-sent-to-justice-department-by-democrats
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Link to Senate Budget Committee Chair & House Oversight Committee Ranking member PRESS RELEASE (with text of letter) - Whitehouse, Raskin Urge DOJ to Investigate Fossil Fuel Disinformation
Link to LETTER (PDF) - https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/_big_oil.pdf
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