From: Bill Moyers
How far will fossil fuel industry-funded elected officials go to protect one of the biggest carbon polluters in the world?
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| The smoke and steam billows from the stacks at the Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery January 30, 2006 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) |
This post originally appeared at The Huffington Post.
When
a handful of attorneys general launched investigations of ExxonMobil
for climate fraud, I wonder if they had any idea that they would be
attacked for attempting to stifle the company’s right of free speech.
After all, if ExxonMobil publicly downplayed warnings by its own
scientists about the threat posed by burning fossil fuels in its
communications with investors and the general public, it very well may
have committed fraud, which is not protected by the First Amendment.
Legal
experts have cited the case against the tobacco industry as an apt
analogy. For years, tobacco companies emphasized uncertainty about their
products’ risks to stave off government regulations. ExxonMobil
essentially has been doing the same thing. MORE
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