ExxonMobil has knowingly misled the public for decades about the danger climate change poses to a warming world and the oil giant’s long-term viability, according to a peer-reviewed study. An analysis of nearly 200 documents spanning decades found that four-fifths of scientific studies and internal memos acknowledged global warming was real and caused by humans. At the same time a similar proportion of hundreds of paid editorials in major US newspapers over the same period cast deep doubt on these widely accepted facts... [F]indings are relevant to ongoing investigations by state and federal attorneys general [...] on whether the company deceived investors on how it accounts for climate change risk... In response, the company [...] denied having led a four-decade disinformation campaign. Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri called the latest study “inaccurate and preposterous” and said the researchers’ goal was to attack the company’s reputation at the expense of its shareholders. “Our statements have been consistent with our understanding of climate science,” he said.