"ExxonMobil under investigation over claims it lied about climate change risks", 5 Nov 2015

The New York attorney general is investigating whether ExxonMobil misled the public and investors about the dangers and potential business risks of climate change, sources familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.  The company confirmed that it had received a subpoena from Eric Schneidermann, the New York attorney general, for financial records, email and other documents related to climate change.  Peabody Energy, the world’s biggest private coal company, is also under investigation, the legal sources confirmed...The two giants of the fossil fuel industry – Exxon and Peabody – have long come under criticism from environmental and science groups for funding climate denial front groups, and spreading disinformation about climate science...“We unequivocally reject allegations that ExxonMobil suppressed climate change research contained in media reports that are inaccurate distortions of ExxonMobil’s nearly 40-year history of climate research that was conducted publicly in conjunction with the Department of Energy, academics and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” Richard Keil, a spokesman, said in an emailed statement...Last year, at the height of the Ebola crisis, [Peabody Energy] went so far as to suggest that expanding coal use would have helped stop the public health crisis.