New York, NY — 350.org filed a motion to quash a subpoena from ExxonMobil in New York federal court today. Attached to the motion was a declaration explaining why Exxon gaining access to 350.org’s internal emails would inhibit the organization’s ability to exercise the organization’s First Amendment rights and fulfill its mission of addressing the climate crisis.
“To state the obvious: no, we are not going to hand over our emails to the world’s largest oil corporation,” said 350.org Executive Director May Boeve. “These subpoenas are just proving our point. Exxon is still doing everything they can to stifle free speech and shut down any inquiries into their decades of climate deception. If Exxon has nothing to hide, why are they going to such extremes to stop these inquiries?”
Exxon is coming after 350.org as part of its case in Texas court against the Massachusetts and New York Attorneys General. The oil giant is trying to gain access to 350.org’s emails and internal communications in an effort to shut-down the group’s role in the growing #ExxonKnew campaign that is shining a spotlight on Exxon’s decades long climate cover-up.
“350.org will continue to challenge any of ExxonMobil’s activities if they deny climate change and its role in environmental damage,” wrote Boeve in the declaration accompanying the motion to quash. “Enforcement of the subpoena by the federal court would hand ExxonMobil an advantage it should not have in this public debate and reward its attempt to use discovery to muzzle its political adversaries. As the world recognizes the threat of climate change, a federal court should not allow ExxonMobil to secure through vexatious discovery the victories it has been unable to achieve in the court of public opinion.”
350.org will continue its campaign to raise awareness about what Exxon knew about climate change and how it continues to block climate progress.
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Contact: Jamie Henn, [email protected], 415-890-3350
To view 350.org’s Motion to Quash, visit: https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/350.org-Motion-to-Quash-ExxonMobil-Subpoena.pdf
To view 350.org’s declaration, visit: https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/declaration-of-May-Boeve.pdf