It doesn't add anything new to those who are already aware that Exxon conducted these studies, and have the expectation that this is normal behavior to work aro

It doesn't add anything new to those who are already aware that Exxon conducted these studies, and have the expectation that this is normal behavior to work around when dealing with businesses, small or large. Not everyone holds knowledge of this (say, people who may have recently started reading Hacker News), and not everyone would come to the conclusion that this is just something to accept and move on. For instance, shareholders are suing Exxon for not being made aware of this.