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The oil giant may have its man of choice in the White House and its old boss as Secretary of State, but Exxon is once again coming under pressure over its stance on climate change.

Two landmark legal cases are becoming intertwined after the Attorneys representing 21 youth plaintiffs demanded that the US Government and American Petroleum Institute hand over a series of alias emails that were used by Rex Tillerson, then head of Exxon, to discuss climate change.

The oil companies go to great efforts to portray their forecasts as works of objective analysis of the future. They are not - they are self-serving descriptions of the futures the companies would like policymakers and investors to believe in.

Trump’s botched celebration of Exxon comes while the President’s team works to dismantle environmental policies and institutions that were put in place to protect communities like those along the fence-lines of refineries and manufacturing plants in the Gulf Coast.

Last year Exxon was on the ropes, reeling from public exposure of decades of deceit on climate. Now, things are looking up. But who will have the last say?

Even in their wildest dreams the oil boys at Exxon could never have imagined that their man would actually make it to one of the top jobs in the US Government. But this now looks likely after the Senate Foreign Relations committee narrowly voted to approve ex-Exxon boss, T-Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State yesterday.

As we edge ever closer to a full-blown Trump Presidency, there is still an outside chance that oilman Rex Tillerson may not make it through the confirmation process.

Three words sum up Rex Tillerson’s performance yesterday in his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State: Unprepared. Unqualified. Unacceptable

Later today, there could be fireworks on Capital Hill when Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee finally grill Rex Tillerson on his potential nomination as Secretary of State.