Grijalva, Porter, Request Documents from Organizations Giving Awards to Climate Misinformation Campaigns

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, sent letters today to six organizations that give out public relations awards, requesting documents on PR campaigns conducted on behalf of the oil and gas industry on the subject of climate change.  

In the letter, available online here, the lawmakers cite former senior Exxon Mobil lobbyist Keith McCoy, who admitted on tape that his employer had funded “shadow groups” to undermine climate efforts.

The letter provided the firms a two-week deadline to produce the requested materials.

“The oil and gas industry spent decades trying to convince people that climate change wasn’t real, or that fossil fuels didn’t play a major role in causing it,” Grijalva said. “Now that they can no longer get away with outright denial, they are using unknown tactics like the ones described by McCoy and his industry colleagues to undermine climate initiatives.”

“Big Oil has been waging a decades-long disinformation campaign to cover up the damage they’re doing to our planet,” Porter said. “We know that these companies purposefully withheld data and lobbied against measures that could have saved lives, all in service of their bottom line. With new reports about how polluters' tactics may have evolved—at great risk to our environment, health, and economy—we must redouble our work to hold oil companies and their enablers accountable.”

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