Also, several cities, counties and the state of Rhode Island have sued the fossil fuel industry to recoup the costs of dealing with sea level rise and other effects of a warming world. Those cases rely on creative and relatively untested legal theories, however, and some of the suits, including one filed by New York City, have been dismissed, though the plaintiffs have said they will appeal. Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family fund, which supports holding fossil fuel companies accountable for climate damages, said of Ms. Underwood’s lawsuit: “Apparently, Exxon has deceived the investing public about the economic consequences of climate change, just as they deceived the general public about the ‘catastrophic’ harm they knew their products would cause. It’s past time for Exxon to make their investors whole and to pay its fair share of the massive damages communities across the nation now face.” Internally, Exxon has acknowledged climate change’s effects on its operations and planned accordingly. The company has long conducted research into climate change, much of it published in the scientific literature. In 2015, Inside Climate News and The Los Angeles Times reported that Exxon was well aware of the risks of climate change and used that research in its long-term planning for activities like drilling in the Arctic, even as it funded groups from the 1990s to the mid-2000s that denied serious climate risks. The company pledged to stop funding groups that directly challenged the science of climate change in the mid-2000s, and says today that it accepts the science and the need for action to blunt the worst effects. The company supported the Paris climate deal and opposed the decision by Mr. Trump to withdraw from the agreement. It also publicizes its development of renewable energy technologies such as biofuels. In addition, Exxon recently announced it would spend $1 million over the next two years to finance a group promoting “carbon dividend” legislation that would tax carbon dioxide emissions and then return the money that is collected back to taxpayers. (The proposal that the company supports would also protect companies that emit fossil fuels from lawsuits over the effects of climate change.) The New York lawsuit poses “a real risk to Exxon’s reputation,” said Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. He said it was especially concerning for investors, who rely on the company’s statements. “If Exxon has been misleading on this,” Mr. Burger said, “what else has it been misleading about?” For more news on climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter. Clifford Krauss contributed reporting from Houston.
Following three years of investigations, the New York's attorney general is suing Exxon Mobil, alleging it deceived shareholders by playing down the predicted risks of climate change to its business. This marks the most significant legal move yet against a fossil fuel firm to make it responsible for misleading the public over climate change. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in Manhattan federal court and seeks damages from Exxon, which has been accused of hiding information about global warming that could have led investors to question whether burning oil would cause This could be costly for Exxon, not only financially but for its reputation.