Alabama AG Warns Colleagues About Abusing Subpoena Power in Climate Change Debate

In a letter to colleagues, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is warning against abusing subpoena power in the debate over climate change.

Strange is the lead author on the letter that includes 12 other Attorneys General.

The letter says several AGs are uniting to fight climate change by launching an investigation into whether fossil fuel companies misled investors and the public on the impact of climate change on their businesses.

Strange says investigatory subpoenas were issued to at least one company and one non-profit believed to have made statements minimizing the risks of climate change. In the letter, Strange calls this a mistake and an abuse of power.

“We are concerned that our colleagues’ investigation undermines the trust the people have invested in Attorneys General to investigate fraud,” Strange says. “At a press conference, one of our colleagues noted that ‘[w]e are pursuing this as we would any other fraud matter.’ But this investigation is far from routine.  We are unaware of any fraud case combining the following three characteristics: 1) the investigation targets a particular type of market participant; 2) the Attorneys General identify themselves with the competitors of their investigative targets; and 3) the investigation implicates an ongoing policy debate.”

The letter also questioned how one company’s minimizing climate change risk is fraud and yet another company’s exaggeration of climate change impact is not.

Strange was joined in the letter by Attorneys General from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin in the Dear Colleague letter.