In Setback for Exxon, Texas Judge Kicks Climate Change Case to New York

The oil company loses its home court advantage before a sympathetic judge who has voiced skepticism over the climate fraud investigations by state attorneys general.

A federal judge handling ExxonMobil's dispute with the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts has transferred the case about climate change from his court in Texas to one in New York.  The decision marks a setback for the Dallas-based oil giant, which until recently had enjoyed a home court advantage before the bench of U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade.

Kinkeade has voiced sympathy with Exxon and skepticism over the attorneys general investigations into whether the company's climate record amounted to fraud.

The judge decided on Wednesday to send the case to New York because the foundation of Exxon's lawsuit rests on a press conference a year ago hosted by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has been investigating Exxon under the state's powerful securities laws.  At the highly publicized event, Schneiderman announced the formation of a coalition of attorneys general under the banner AGs United for Clean Power.  The intent of the coalition was to hold Exxon and the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate change.

Exxon had been under investigation by New York for six months when Schneiderman announced the coalition.  Massachusetts and the US. Virgin Islands opened investigations around the same time the coalition was formed.

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