Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse and House Oversight and Accountability ranking member Jamie Raskin on Wednesday referred their investigation into large oil and gas companies’ past knowledge about the climate impacts of fossil fuels to the Justice Department.
In the referral, Raskin, D-Md., and Whitehouse, D-R.I., argue that the department should investigate four such companies — BP America, Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co. — as well as the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for “denialism and disinformation” about the harm caused by use of their products.
The pair said they agreed with the May 1 testimony of Sharon Eubanks, former director of the Justice Department’s tobacco litigation team, that there is adequate foundation for building a case against the oil industry.
