---
title: The Department of Justice Must Investigate ExxonMobil
date: 2015-10-30T13:31:29Z
modified: 2023-07-24T14:29:55Z
permalink: "https://350.org/the-department-of-justice-must-investigate-exxonmobil/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 42676
categories:
  - Featured
  - KIITG
featured_image: /wp-content/uploads/2015/10/exxon.jpg
---

_You can join the call to action be signing our [petition to the DOJ here.](https://act.350.org/sign/exxon_DOJ)_

Leaders of many of the country’s largest environmental groups, civil rights organizations, and indigenous peoples movements issued a joint letter today calling on the Department of Justice to investigate ExxonMobil, after revelations that the company knew about climate change as early as the 1970s, but chose to mislead the public about the crisis in order to maximize their profits from fossil fuels.

“Despite Exxon’s wealth and power, people were eager to sign on to this statement,” said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. “Anyone who’s lived through 25 years of phony climate debate, or who’s seen the toll climate change is already taking on the most vulnerable communities, has been seething at these revelations. It reminds me of the spirit at the start of the Keystone battle.”

The letter is a remarkable show of unity, with groups ranging from the Audubon Society to the Foundation of Women in Hip Hop, and will help keep the spotlight on Exxon as new revelations continue to emerge. Over the last week, pressure has continued to build for a federal investigation, with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley all calling on the DOJ to act.

Here is the full text of the letter and list of signatories:

> _Dear Attorney General Lynch,_
> 
> _As leaders of some of the nation’s environmental, indigenous peoples and civil rights groups, we’re writing to ask that you initiate a federal probe into the conduct of ExxonMobil. New revelations in the Los Angeles Times and the Pulitzer-prize-winning InsideClimate News strongly suggest that the corporation knew about the dangers of climate change even as it funded efforts at climate denial and systematically misled the public._
> 
> _Given the damage that has already occurred from climate change—particularly in the poorest communities of our nation and our planet—and that will certainly occur going forward, these revelations should be viewed with the utmost apprehension. They are reminiscent—though potentially much greater in scale—than similar revelations about the tobacco industry._
> 
> _These journalists have provided a remarkable roadmap to this corporation’s potential misconduct. We would ask that you follow that map wherever it may lead, employing all the tools at your disposal to uncover the truth._
> 
> Signed,
> **Margie Alt**, Executive Director of Environment America
> **Rameen Aminzadeh,** Beats Rhymes & Relief
> **Ana Maria Archila, Andrew Friedman, Brian Kettenring**, Popular Democracy
> **Kenny Ausubel**, Nina Simons, Founders of Bioneers
> **Lydia Avila,** Energy Action Coalition
> **Darryl Baskerville**, Greensboro4Justice
> **Jimmy Betts**, Beyond Extreme Energy
> **Sally Bingham**, President and Founder of Interfaith Power and Light
> **May Boeve, Bill McKibben**, Founders of 350.org
> **Sr. Joan Brown**, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light
> **Dominique Browning**, Moms Clean Air Force
> **Michael Brune**, Executive Director of Sierra Club
> **Robert Bullard**, Author and John Muir Award winner, 2013
> **Anne Butterfield**, President of Clean Energy Action
> **Andrea Carmen**, Executive Director of International Indian Treaty Council
> **Patrick Carolan**, Franciscan Action Network
> **Piper Carter,** The Foundation of Women in Hip Hop
> **Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, PhD**, Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University
> **Faith Gemmill**, Executive Director of REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands)
> **Tom Goldtooth,** Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network
> **Russell Greene**, J.A.M.N.
> **Christopher Hale,** Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
> **Ross Hammond**, ForestEthics
> **James Hansen**, Director, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program, Columbia University Earth Institute
> **Christina Hardy,** Neighbors United of Southeast Greensboro, NC
> **Reverend Fletcher Harper**, Executive Director of Greenfaith
> **Wenonah Haute**r, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch
> **David Helvarg**, Executive Director of Blue Frontier
> **Katie Hoffman,** Resilience Collaborative, LLC
> **Lisa Hoyos**, Director and Co-Founder of Climate Parents
> **Reverend Nelson Johnson,** Beloved Community Center
> **Gene Karpinski**, President of League of Conservation Voters
> **Ken Kimmell**, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists
> **Jane Kleeb**, Bold Nebraska
> **Deacon Jerry Kotas**, Colorado Interfaith Power and Light
> **Steve Kretzmann**, Executive Director and Founder of Oil Change International
> **Fred Krupp**, President of Environmental Defense Fund
> **Winona LaDuke**, Executive Director of Honor the Earth
> **Annie Leonard**, Executive Director of Greenpeace USA
> **Patti Lynn,** Executive Director of Corporate Accountability International
> **Richard Mabion**, President of the Kansas City, Kansas NAACP Branch, and the first Black ExCom Board member for the Kansas Sierra Club (2012)
> **Mark Magaña**,GreenLatinos
> **RL Miller**, President of Climate Hawks Vote
> **Toure Muhammad,** Bean Soup Times
> **Matt Nelson**, Managing Director of Presente.org
> **Brant Olson**, Campaign Director at Climate Truth
> **Erich Pica**, President of Friends of the Earth
> **Brandon Ross,** Freddie Gray Project
> **Aldo Seoane**, Wica Agli
> **Cindy Shogan**, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League
> **Reverend Fred Small**, President of Creation Coalition
> **Gus Speth**, Former Dean Yale School of Forestry and the Environment
> **Tom Steyer**, Founder of NextGen Climate
> **Rich Stolz**, Executive Director of OneAmerica
> **Kieran Suckling**, Executive Director of the Center for Biological Diversity
> **Rhea Suh**, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council
> **Franz Teplitz,** Green America
> **Vien Truong**, Director of Green for All
> **Joe Uehlein**, Executive Director of Labor Network for Sustainability
> **Trip Van Noppen**, President of Earthjustice
> **Clara Vonrich,** Divest-Invest Philanthropy
> **Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome**, Director of Federal Policy of WE ACT for Environmental Justice
> **Maureen Yancey “Ma Dukes”,** J Dilla Foundation
> **David Yarnold**, President of the Audubon Society
> **Reverend Lennox Yearwood**, President of Hip Hop Caucus
> **Elijah Zarlin**, Climate Campaigns Director, CREDO
> **A Philip Randolph Institute**
>  **Divest Invest Individual**
>  **Ecumenical Poverty Initiative**
>  **The Gathering for Justice/Justice League NYC**