AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) issued the following statement from the Honorable Robert Henneke, general counsel and director of TPPF’s Center for the American Future, on the Texas Attorney General with the state of Alabama filing an intervention asking a state judge to end the investigation against ExxonMobil by Claude Earl Walker, Attorney General of the Virgin Islands. Walker issued a subpoena for over 40 years of ExxonMobil records, alleging the company has engaged in racketeering due to its position on climate change. The subpoena was issued as part of an effort by a coalition of state attorney generals seeking to investigate energy companies and non-profit research institutes based on their opinions regarding anthropogenic climate change.
“The Foundation applauds the Texas Attorney General for engaging in defense of Texans whose First Amendment rights are under attack,” said Henneke. “The liberal attorney general coalition subpoena targeting ExxonMobil and the non-profit Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) for over forty years of internal records, data, and communications hits close to home due to the Foundation itself being one of the entities under scrutiny. The subpoena is a brazen attempt to stifle free speech in the debate over energy policy and worldwide temperatures. Today, the Texas Attorney General’s intervention represents an important step in pushing back.”
To schedule an interview with Mr. Henneke, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Honorable Robert Henneke is General Counsel and Director of the Foundation’s Center for the American Future.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.