New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman continues his aggressive confrontation of powerful state interests. He's already taken on the mortgage industry and taken some heat. Now it's the oil and gas businesses in New York state.
The NY Times (my emphasis):
Subpoenas were sent to the three companies — Range Resources, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Goodrich Petroleum — according to the sources, who have direct knowledge of the investigation. Mr. Schneiderman also broadened a continuing investigation by his office into a fourth company, Chesapeake Energy, asking it to respond to similar questions about its shale gas wells, they said.Schneiderman is applying a 1921 law, the Martin Act, which allows him to "subpoena virtually any document from any business operating in the state, and ... choose between civil or criminal charges."
The four companies were chosen because they are heavily involved in natural gas drilling and because New York State has more than $45 million of its pension money invested with them. If a company improperly reported to investors how its wells were likely to perform or failed to disclose the true costs of drilling, there could be repercussions for the state’s financial portfolio.
Some legal experts consider the subpoenas an indication of Mr. Schneiderman’s growing willingness to confront powerful interests. The action also opens a new front in an already heated debate in New York and other states over how much to allow companies to drill, and how they should be regulated.
There's actually much more in the article, including information about fracking.
Shame on him for actually using power when he has it. I thought only Republicans got to do that.
GP
