Exxon's Top Lawyer Will Lead DOJ's Environment & Natural Resources Division (They Just Removed The Word "Environment") [View all]

“In one of the executive orders, President Trump described the coal industry as beautiful,” said Robert L. Levy, ExxonMobil’s executive counsel, at a 2025 event organized by the Federalist Society. “No such reference to the beauty of the oil and gas side of the industry,” he went on, “but we are very appreciative of the support that the administration has given.”

Now Levy is poised to help lead the Trump administration’s efforts to protect companies like Exxon from climate lawsuits. In a mid-June social media post, Levy announced that he was leaving his job at Exxon to take an environmental litigation role at the Justice Department, in a division that calls itself the nation’s environmental lawyer and the largest environmental law firm in the country.

“After 17 wonderful years at Exxon Mobil Corporation, I will be retiring this summer,” Levy posted on LinkedIn. “The next day, I will begin a new chapter of public service as Senior Counsel in the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.”

Shortly after his announcement, the DOJ renamed it the Energy and Natural Resources Division, removing the word environment.

EDIT

https://www.desmog.com/2026/07/10/exxons-robert-levy-is-joining-the-doj-division-that-dubs-itself-the-nations-largest-environmental-law-firm/