U.S. House panel subpoenas Big Oil in climate deception probe
WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) – The head of a U.S. House panel on Tuesday subpoenaed four major oil companies and two lobbying groups for documents related to their actions on global warming as part of a year-long probe into potential climate deception by the energy industry.
Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat and the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued subpoenas to Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Chevron Corp (CVX.N), BP America (BP.L) and Shell Oil (RDSa.L), and to industry body the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Democrats are modeling the probe on the Big Tobacco hearings of the 1990s which took place over many months and eventually revealed that companies buried evidence that cigarettes are addictive and harmful.
Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith said Shell will continue to cooperate with the committee. Chevron spokesperson Braden Reddall said the company has been working to collect and produce the documents and will respond to the subpoena “appropriately”.