Texas Republican, climate change denier, and inexplicably the Chairman of the House Science committee Rep. Lamar Smith continues his abuse of power in his tireless quest to defend ExxonMobil from the meanies around the United States.
Smith, chairman of the House Science committee, asked the federal financial regulatory agency to provide documents related to its investigation of Exxon.
Saying the committee was "troubled" by the commission's investigation, Smith requested SEC chair Mary Jo White provide information about the purpose, scope, and origin of the agency's inquiries into Exxon's climate disclosures.
Like any good Republican trying to gum up the works, Rep. Smith is asking the SEC to provide enough information that will allow him to waste everyone’s time while doing nothing positive for the world of science. Here’s the letter somebody in the oil and gas industry he wrote to Mary Jo White of the SEC.
Although the Committee is not interested in the merits of the New York AG’s nearly year-long probe, the AG’s efforts, characterized variously as a “witch hunt” and “fool’s errand,” an “abuse of powers,” “pathetic,” a “schtick,” and an “uphill battle,” have failed to uncover any indicia of wrongdoing by Exxon. This raises questions as to why the SEC would assume the mantle of the New York AG’s fruitless investigation.
What’s great about the above is his sourcing includes the “Federalist Society,” which you don’t even need to read about to know they are a right-wing think tank. But, if you really must know, here are some of their luminary past members:
Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr.
Oh, yeah, former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was also a former member. The other sources for those bad quotes? The New York Post and an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Rep. Smith has already been subpoenaing all of the attorneys general who are trying to find out exactly how much of a fraud ExxonMobil perpetrated on the world in order to continue to profit and buy shiny things.
In going after the SEC, Rep. Smith is trying to head off the recently revealed investigation that the SEC is doing on ExxonMobil’s past filings.
The current probe, disclosed by The Wall Street Journal, signals the SEC's interest in whether Exxon fully disclosed the financial risk to its investors posed by climate change.
The SEC requires companies like Exxon to disclose potential decreased demand for goods that produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. Such a decrease could pose a material risk to investors.
Rep. Smith has somehow turned the House Science Committee into a new House Un-American Activities Committee. Well done, Republican Party. We didn’t know you had it in you to abuse and ruin every institution you touch.