Exxon trial probes how oil giant accounts for climate change
Source: Associated Press
Exxon trial probes how oil giant accounts for climate change
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
October 21, 2019
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general is accusing Exxon Mobil of lying to investors about how profitable the company will remain as governments impose stricter regulations to combat global warming.
The lawsuit, which is set to go to trial Tuesday, claims the Texas energy giant kept two sets of books — one accounting for climate change regulations and the other underestimating the costs — to make the company appear more valuable to investors.
Exxon denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated, and said the company looks forward to being exonerated in court.
At stake is how much value investors will still see in oil and gas companies once the impact of climate change — and the stepped-up efforts to curb it — become more apparent.
“If companies like Exxon accurately account for the necessary degree of regulation to prevent even more dangerous global warming from happening, it will make less and less sense to continue to invest in developing fossil fuel projects,” said Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/0232a46d7ecb4498bbb3fbc4ac0f25b1
