The Thompson memorandum of global warming

The WSJ today prints an incredible letter sent by two senators to a corporation, and summarizes it in an editorial:

Washington has no shortage of bullies, but even we can't quite believe an October 27 letter that Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe sent to Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Its message: Start toeing the Senators' line on climate change, or else.* * *[I]ts essential point is that the two Senators believe global warming is a fact, and therefore all debate about the issue must stop and Exxon Mobil should "end its dangerous support of the [global warming] 'deniers'." Not only that, the company "should repudiate its climate change denial campaign and make public its funding history." And in extra penance for being "one of the world's largest carbon emitters," Exxon should spend that money on "global remediation efforts."

The letter doesn't threaten explicitly.  But if a 300 pound bouncer is standing over you and asking you pretty please to stop, no explicit threats are really necessary. These are two prominent senators and, as the WSJ editorial points out, there's any number of things the government can do to a corporation. Look at this as the Thompson Memorandum of global warming – cooperate or else.

The letter emphasizes that there's no legitimate debate on global warming, just the phony stuff Exxon supports.  I'm not going to take a position on that here, just note that I'm not comfortable letting U.S. senators decide when debate is legitimate. 

The letter is exhibit A in why corporations need speech rights to defend themselves from government, as I've argued in Corporate Governance Speech and the First Amendment (with Butler), 43 U. Kans. L. Rev. 163 (1994) and Corporate Political Speech, 49 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 109 (1992).  The Supreme Court had an opportunity to settle this issue in the Nike case a few years ago.  Hopefully it will get another chance.  Even if corporate speech looks a little like commercial activity, it also contributes to contentious political debates.  The less corporations can speak, the easier it is for groups on the other side to mold public opinion, and thereby get favorable government action.

Comments

[save_the_rustbelt]

There are something like 37000 registered lobbyists in DC.

I wouldn't worry too much about corporations, they already own the administration and most of Congress.

[M. Hodak]

I think there is an irony in the notion that old man Rockefeller was badgered into submission by vindictive Senators pushing a "progressive" agenda of tariffs and regulation that Standard Oil opposed, and now Rockefeller's grandchild is working against Standard's grandchild with his arguably "progressive" agenda and the same political vindictiveness.

I wonder if Tillerson is descendant from one of those old Senators? That would get Oliver Stone going.

[Robert Schwartz]

STRB: You are so smart! How did you find that out?