To take down Big Oil, opponents are following the Big Tobacco playbook

Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

This week, ExxonMobil goes on trial, facing a potentially historic legal showdown in New York. The company faces charges that it misled investors by downplaying how much future environmental regulations could affect its bottom line. If prosecutors nail Exxon on this case, it could be the start of a major reckoning for Big Oil.
Watching this week’s case is sort of like seeing notorious mobster Al Capone face a jury on tax evasion. It hinges on whether the company fudged its accounting, but symbolically, the trial stands for a lot more. Although this legal battle is a little different than the flood of other suits aimed at holding oil giants like Exxon responsible for catastrophes associated with climate change, this is the only suit so…

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