This week in the Northern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge
Ed Kinkeade heard oral argument on Exxon Mobil's motion for
preliminary injunction against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura
Healey's civil investigative demand, issued to Exxon on April
19, 2016, which sought documents from Exxon related to its analysis
of research efforts to study climate change. The argument
followed two amicus briefs from state attorneys general across the
country.
The first brief, filed in August for the states of Maryland, New
York, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico,
Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of
Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, supported Healey's efforts,
calling Exxon's proposed injunction "sweeping and
unprecedented." Citing their own offices' authority
to investigate and combat violations of state law, the
amici pressed that "[p]roper respect for the
States' sovereign interests has long dictated that the
