Protect Science from Corporate Interference
Representative Lamar Smith has used his position as chairman of the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to bully climate scientists and to stall progress on global warming research for years – and he is on the attack again.
Chairman Smith – a fierce fossil fuel advocate – is trying to interfere with investigations into whether ExxonMobil knowingly lied to its shareholders and the public about the risks of climate change even after the company's own scientists sounded the alarm.
We need your help in standing up to these baseless attacks. Chairman Smith recently issued subpoenas to the Union of Concerned Scientists, several other nonprofit organizations, and state attorneys general demanding all correspondence related to our work to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. It's not just an attack on our First Amendment rights to freely associate and petition the government – it's also a crass attempt to stop UCS and state prosecutors from holding ExxonMobil accountable.
Add your name to our letter demanding Chairman Smith stop this abuse of power and cease his attacks on UCS and other private organizations.
Chairman Smith – a fierce fossil fuel advocate – is trying to interfere with investigations into whether ExxonMobil knowingly lied to its shareholders and the public about the risks of climate change even after the company's own scientists sounded the alarm.
We need your help in standing up to these baseless attacks. Chairman Smith recently issued subpoenas to the Union of Concerned Scientists, several other nonprofit organizations, and state attorneys general demanding all correspondence related to our work to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. It's not just an attack on our First Amendment rights to freely associate and petition the government – it's also a crass attempt to stop UCS and state prosecutors from holding ExxonMobil accountable.
Add your name to our letter demanding Chairman Smith stop this abuse of power and cease his attacks on UCS and other private organizations.
To: Chairman Lamar Smith
We are writing to halt your baseless and unprecedented interference in an effort by state prosecutors to determine whether ExxonMobil suppressed and misrepresented the work of its scientists. Your actions undermine the ability of private citizens and organizations to expose fraud and abuse of science.
Decades ago, ExxonMobil scientists developed climate science research and shared their assessment of climate change risks to the oil industry with company leaders. ExxonMobil subsequently downplayed these risks in communications with shareholders and the public for years. It is entirely appropriate for state prosecutors to investigate whether this misrepresentation of science constitutes fraud.
Several nonprofit organizations have provided information to guide the attorneys general in their investigations. In response, you have repeatedly demanded access to their correspondence, claiming an interest in "ensuring that all scientists...have the freedom to pursue any and all legitimate avenues of inquiry." The scientists and their research are not under question, but rather ExxonMobil's decision to misrepresent climate science to shareholders and the public, including the work of their own scientists.
Last fall, you launched a similar investigation into the work of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientists when they came to a conclusion with which you did not agree. Your actions were widely repudiated by the scientific community and seen as harassment. Your most recent actions constitute a bald attempt to cast further doubt on climate science and intimidate attorneys general from fully investigating whether ExxonMobil defrauded its shareholders.
By attacking both state attorneys general and the nonprofit organizations that are informing their work, you are making it easier for companies to suppress science and damage public health and the environment. We urge you to withdraw your demands for correspondence from public interest organizations and to use your power to put the interests of the scientific community above those of ExxonMobil.
Signed by:
[Your Name]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionWe are writing to halt your baseless and unprecedented interference in an effort by state prosecutors to determine whether ExxonMobil suppressed and misrepresented the work of its scientists. Your actions undermine the ability of private citizens and organizations to expose fraud and abuse of science.
Decades ago, ExxonMobil scientists developed climate science research and shared their assessment of climate change risks to the oil industry with company leaders. ExxonMobil subsequently downplayed these risks in communications with shareholders and the public for years. It is entirely appropriate for state prosecutors to investigate whether this misrepresentation of science constitutes fraud.
Several nonprofit organizations have provided information to guide the attorneys general in their investigations. In response, you have repeatedly demanded access to their correspondence, claiming an interest in "ensuring that all scientists...have the freedom to pursue any and all legitimate avenues of inquiry." The scientists and their research are not under question, but rather ExxonMobil's decision to misrepresent climate science to shareholders and the public, including the work of their own scientists.
Last fall, you launched a similar investigation into the work of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientists when they came to a conclusion with which you did not agree. Your actions were widely repudiated by the scientific community and seen as harassment. Your most recent actions constitute a bald attempt to cast further doubt on climate science and intimidate attorneys general from fully investigating whether ExxonMobil defrauded its shareholders.
By attacking both state attorneys general and the nonprofit organizations that are informing their work, you are making it easier for companies to suppress science and damage public health and the environment. We urge you to withdraw your demands for correspondence from public interest organizations and to use your power to put the interests of the scientific community above those of ExxonMobil.
Signed by:
[Your Name]
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