One would wonder why Exxon/Mobil might bear the brunt of a legal dispute dealing with climate change, but think of it along the lines of Philip Morris (in whatever form/s the company footprint held in the 1960s and 70s) not disclosing, instead trying to debunk, what it knew about the hazards of smoking. They weren't the only oil company in the world, but they knew what the score was and denied it.

From the PRI article linked directly above:

Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Song says their investigation found that ExxonMobil was "very much aware of climate change science" as long ago as 1977, and that company scientists had briefed top executives about both climate change and the role of fossil fuel combustion in driving the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The reporting team also found that Exxon went on to conduct its own rigorous research, which confirmed both the reality of climate change and the potential risks that tighter regulation of fossil fuel might present to the company's bottom line, but that it didn't file an in-depth discussion of the issue with the Securities and Exchange Commission until 2009.

It's the SEC part of that story that is going to cause the company to stew for a while.