Subpoenaed Exxon Yet?

A statement by CIEL President & CEO Carroll Muffett criticizing Exxon's legal strategy of filing discovery requests and lawsuits against public officials, attorneys, and organizations investigating the company's role in the climate crisis.

• Exxon has requested a state district court in Tarrant County, Texas, to authorize depositions and discovery against sixteen public officials and attorneys representing seven California jurisdictions: San Francisco, Oakland, Imperial Beach, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz County.
• The author characterizes Exxon's legal actions as an intimidation tactic designed to delay investigations and disrupt litigation brought by cities and states regarding the climate crisis.
• In 2016, Exxon sued the Attorneys General of New York and Massachusetts in a Texas federal district court, alleging a conspiracy involving prosecutors, NGOs, and researchers; however, the court eventually determined it had no jurisdiction and ordered the claims to be re-filed in New York.
• Exxon's current legal argument claims that California courts lack personal jurisdiction because the company does not conduct business there, while asserting that a Texas court should have jurisdiction over individuals from California and Massachusetts.
• Exxon justifies its discovery requests by alleging discrepancies between the climate impacts cited in California cities' lawsuits and the risks disclosed in their municipal bond filings, specifically citing San Mateo's 2014 and 2016 prospectuses.

APA

Muffett, C. (2018). Subpoenaed Exxon Yet? Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/subpoenaed-exxon-yet/

Chicago

Muffett, Carroll. Subpoenaed Exxon Yet? Center for International Environmental Law, 2018. https://www.ciel.org/subpoenaed-exxon-yet/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muffett |first1=Carroll |title=Subpoenaed Exxon Yet? |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=9 January 2018 |url=https://www.ciel.org/subpoenaed-exxon-yet/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muffett2018subpoenaed, author = {Muffett, Carroll}, title = {{Subpoenaed Exxon Yet?}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2018}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ciel.org/subpoenaed-exxon-yet/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }