A couple of weeks ago, ExxonMobil took a nice-sized hit when the very sympathetic United States District Judge Ed Kinkeade explained that the oil giant would not be able to try their case in the friendly confines of Texas. ExxonMobil has been fighting off inquiries into what the company knew about fossil fuels and climate science and the impact their industry was having on our environment, and while Judge Kinkeade was very sympathetic in his decision, new Judge Valerie E. Caproni is clearly not.
"I have a different view of this case than Judge Kinkeade," Caproni said after listening to Exxon's lawyers explain why they think their case against the attorneys general should proceed.
When pressed by ExxonMobil’s lawyers for a little more “discovery” time to further investigate the states attorneys general, Judge Caproni seemed fed up.
"Gimme a break," Caproni said. "You were going to depose the attorney general of Massachusetts."
That’s a definitive “No” to ExxonMobil’s offer of legal theatrics. This is one of the main reasons ExxonMobil wanted the case moved to Texas, where they have a rigged deck home field advantage. Other reasons include other New York judges unwilling to go along with their charade. As Inside Climate News explains, conservative “law folk” everywhere are trying to tip the scales in favor of incinerating our earth’s climate.
Two days before the hearing, a group of 11 Republican state attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief to Caproni's court in support of Exxon. The brief claimed the two Democratic attorneys general investigating Exxon "falsely presume that the scientific debate regarding climate change is settled." The group of Republicans also accused Schneiderman and Healey of using their investigative power to silence opposing opinions.
The author of that brief was none other than the felony indicted attorney general from Texas Ken Paxton.