New York (CNN) A trial in which energy giant ExxonMobil stands accused of misleading investors about the potential impact of climate change regulations on its operations started Tuesday. The New York attorney general brought the suit alleging the company used figures internally that were different from what they disclosed publicly when calculating the impact of laws, taxes and other economic aspects of climate change over the coming decades. The fraud cost investors as much $1.6 billion, the attorney general's office alleges. Former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the CEO of ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016, during the years in question, and will testify in the trial, according to a company attorney. "Investors cared about these costs because increasing carbon and greenhouse gas regulations had the potential to hurt the profitability and even threatened the viability of Exxon's carbon intensive business," Kevin Wallace, an attorney representing the New York attorney general, told the court.

Source: CNN October 23, 2019 00:56 UTC