racketeering laws.159 Sharon Eubanks, a legal expert who was the Department of Justice’s lead counsel in the historic tobacco case, U.S. v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al.,160 suggested in a news article that “[i]f investigators find evidence that fossil fuel companies hid knowledge about climate change from the public, those could be held liable under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)…like Philip Morris and other cigarette companies.”161 The U.S. Department of Justice has referred the Exxon matter to the FBI.162 The investigations by the attorneys general are relevant to this Petition. First, Exxon is the subject of all the investigations. Second, the Philippines and its citizens are acutely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, like the U.S. Virgin Islands for instance. If companies, such as Exxon, are found to have misled consumers and investors in the U.S. for decades, then this would have “robbed” Filipinos, and humanity as a whole, “a generation’s worth of time to reverse climate change” and fuelled the human rights impacts being experienced today.163 b.2.2. Corporate Responsibility & Moral Imperative: Exxon Shareholder Resolutions In a departure from previous years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently decided, over objections from the company, that Exxon must allow shareholders to vote on a number resolutions related to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 159 D. Hasemyer and B. Simison, Exxon Fights Subpoena in Widening Climate Probe, Citing Violation of Its Constitutional Rights, InsideClimate News, Apr. 14, 2016, http://insideclimatenews.org/news/13042016/exxon-virgin-islands-subpoena-climate-change-investigationviolates-rights-claude-walker (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 160 For more information on tobacco litigation, see Public Health Law Center, Tobacco Litigation, http://publichealthlawcenter.org/topics/tobacco-control/tobacco-control-litigation (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 161 C. von Kaenel, Critics of Exxon Draw Parallels to Big Tobacco, E&E Publishing, Dec. 9, 2015, http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/12/09/stories/1060029208 (last accessed on Apr. 19, 201). 162 P. Kadzik, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Letter to the Honorable Ted W. Lieu U. S. House of Representatives and the Honorable Mark DeSaulnier U. S. House of Representatives, Jan. 12, 2016, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2730475-DOJ-RESPONSE.html (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 163 350.org and other participating organizations, #ExxonKnew, available at www.exxonknew.org (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). ! ! ! ! ! 58 !