Enlarge / Chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee Lamar Smith, R-Texas. (credit: Getty Images)

From his position as Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) has seen fit to wade into oil giant Exxon Mobil’s legal troubles in a big way. Several state attorneys general—most notably New York AG Eric Schneiderman—are seeking records from Exxon following news stories detailing Exxon’s own climate research in the 1970s and 1980s. After its own research found that climate change was clearly linked to fossil fuel burning, Exxon shuttered that research and began publicly promoting doubt over global warming.

The investigations are looking into whether Exxon effectively misled its investors about the company’s risks—just as tobacco companies were found to have done in the 1990s.

Last week, it was discovered that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been following the Exxon investigation and seeking records from the company itself. The Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC was interested in how Exxon values its assets as climate policies grow stronger, as well as “Exxon’s longstanding practice of not writing down the value of its oil and gas reserves when prices fall.”