And the GOP puppets continue to dance on the oil industry's strings.

This case is about fraud.  Exxon fraud.  Shocking, isn't it?  Just like the cigarette companies, Exxon knew its product was hazardous years ago, their scientists documented it.  But they kept it under wraps and publicly claimed the opposite to their investors.  Once the hazard was recognized, as it's being now, their stock would plummet and their investors would get screwed.  

Knowingly misleading investors is fraud.  But that's never bothered Alaska's republican party, has it?  It's all about money to them - donor money.