ExxonMobil


Rep. Steve Scalise and other ExxonMobil-funded House members routinely vote against a carbon tax despite the company’s avowed support for one. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

ExxonMobil’s Support for a Carbon Tax is a Sham

, senior writer

July 31, 2018 9:15 AM EDT

ExxonMobil executives just had another opportunity to convince skeptics that their support for a carbon tax is genuine. Yes, the company has consistently paid lip service to a carbon tax since 2009. And yes, it is a founding member of the Climate Leadership Council—which supports a $40 per ton carbon tax—and it recently endorsed Americans for Carbon Dividends, a new bipartisan lobby group promoting a carbon tax that would return revenues to taxpayers. But more telling is the fact that the oil giant has never publicly supported a carbon tax bill and consistently funds members of Congress who oppose a carbon tax. How does that square with the company’s avowed position? It doesn’t. Read more >

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Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr

ExxonMobil Refuses to Give Scientists the Floor: Reflections from a Corporate Shareholders’ Meeting

Robert E. Forbis Jr., , UCS

June 12, 2018 10:19 AM EDT

It was with great anticipation that I attended the ExxonMobil Shareholders Meeting last month at the invitation of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). My attendance was facilitated via proxy from Mercy Investment Services. In doing so, I joined a multitude of interested parties—some of whom had traveled great distances—to engage ExxonMobil’s CEO Darren Woods in discussions concerning a wide array of topics including, but certainly not limited to, climate change. Alas, none of us (representatives of the Union of Concerned Scientists or others who had come prepared with questions about climate change or environmental issues) were called upon. We were, in fact, studiously avoided. Read more >

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Former ExxonMobil Engineer Says Oil and Gas Companies Can and Should Plan to Be Part of the Solution to Climate Change

, climate accountability campaign manager

May 29, 2018 9:22 AM EDT

A conversation with William (Bill) Hafker, an environmental engineer who spent 36 years working for ExxonMobil. Bill believes that oil and gas companies should be increasingly active and transparent in identifying and committing to meaningful climate action, and should incorporate climate planning into their traditional business planning. Read more >

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In Australia, Too, Shareholders Demand Climate Transparency from Fossil Fuel Companies

, climate accountability campaign manager

November 14, 2017 9:24 AM EDT

[Update December 19, 2017, 1:16pm] BHP Billiton Limited issued its promised report on the material differences between the company’s positions on climate and energy policy and the advocacy positions on climate and energy policy taken by industry associations to which BHP belongs. Based on its review, the company has decided to withdraw from the World Coal Association and to reconsider its membership in the US Chamber of Commerce. BHP will formally communicate with the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) over the inconsistencies between its position and those of the MCA, request that the MCA refrain from policy activity or advocacy in those area, and review its membership in the MCA if the association has not heeded that request within a year.

BHP’s report and the actions the company has taken based on it are a significant step forward for transparency and accountability of corporate lobbying. UCS and our supporters will be urging other major fossil fuel companies to match BHP’s disclosures and to ensure that the climate-related positions of their trade associations and industry groups are aligned with their own.

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Fig. 2 from Frumhoff, Heede, Oreskes (2015) based on data from Heede (2014)
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ExxonMobil Attacks New Study That Exposes Its Climate Deception…Again.

, climate accountability campaign manager

August 24, 2017 10:19 AM EDT

A new study concludes that ExxonMobil misled the public about climate change. ExxonMobil has already dismissed the study’s conclusions and questioned the authors’ motives. By insisting that it does not cover up climate science, ExxonMobil misrepresents the real issue: its failure to act on scientific knowledge of the devastating climate impacts of its product. Read more >

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