"Lawsuit alleges ExxonMobil deceived shareholders on climate change rules", 24 Oct 2018

New York is suing the oil giant ExxonMobil in a lawsuit that claims the company engaged in a “longstanding fraudulent scheme” to downplay the risks posed to its business by climate change regulations.  The legal action, launched by New York state attorney general Barbara Underwood, alleges that ExxonMobil deceived its investors by hiding the true extent of its financial exposure to laws aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions...Exxon’s role in covering up the impact of climate change has come to light in the recent years, with the company aware for decades about the consequences of burning fossil fuels only to downplay this in public...

...The New York state lawsuit does not concern the impact of climate change, but rather Exxon’s role in communicating the risk of climate regulation to investors...In Illinois, the power to join this type of case lies with the secretary of state, attorney general Lisa Madigan explained.  She said: “The overall message here is that Exxon and others that were really at the forefront of causing climate change conditions in our country and around the world long knew that this was taking place and withheld that information to the detriment of not just their investors but ultimately all of us around the country.”