Climate Changed
Exxon Mobil Beats New York’s Climate-Change Accounting Case
- Energy company’s victory is blow to Attorney General James
- State claimed Exxon lied to investors about financial risks
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Exxon Mobil Corp. won a closely watched trial over its accounting for the financial risks of climate change, in an outright rejection of New York state’s claim that the energy giant engaged in a cynical scheme to mislead investors for years.
Tuesday’s ruling, by New York Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager in Manhattan, is a blow to the state’s attorney general, Letitia James. In the securities fraud lawsuit, filed in October of last year, New York accused Exxon of lying to shareholders about its use of a “proxy cost” for carbon in accounting for future climate change regulation to make them think the company was being more prudent than it was.