Thursday, April 21, 2016

Brief 10: What Aren't They Telling Us


     
     The Freedom of Information Act was created  in 1966 and signed by Lyndon B. Johnson. It is a "law that gives you the right to access information on federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government". A lot of people and companies would like to keep their documents hidden from view and will fight to keep them from the public eye. ExxonMobile is currently dealing with people trying to view their documents. 



     "ExxonMobile is fighting a subpoena seeking its internal documents on climate change, arguing that the order violates the company's constitutional rights". Claude Walker, a U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General, set this investigation in motion. He believes that ExxonMobile may have ill informed or mislead the public on climate change and climate science. The "subpoena accusses Exxon of defrauding the government and consumers, and 'misrepresenting its knowlege of the likelihood that its products and activities have contributed and are contributing to climate change'". ExxonMobile is saying that Walker trying to view their documents is something purely politically motivated and that his attempt is a violation of their rights. 

     The Freedom of Information Act is put in place so that the citizens of the U.S. can be informed, especially when it comes to things regarding their pwn safety. The fact that ExxonMobile is fighting to withhold information they have regarding climate change is a little concerning. This begs the question of how accurate is the information big companies and the government is telling us? We should be concerned, we should seek answers, we should be informed. 

Articles Cited: 
(http://www.foia.gov/)
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exxon-first-amendment_us_571662c6e4b0060ccda46d63)

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