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Global Warming Activists Confront Executives at ExxonMobil Shareholders' Meeting
Coalition Calls on Company to 'Come Clean'
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jane Kochersperger, (202) 319-2493 or (202) 680-3798 cell
May 30, 2007, Dallas - As ExxonMobil executives and board members arrived at the shareholder meeting in Dallas today, they were confronted by scores of Exxpose Exxon activists with signs demanding the company come clean on global warming and invest in renewable energy.
"ExxonMobil is double-crossing both the public and policy makers with its latest spin on climate change. It's avoiding real changes and continuing to fund groups that purposefully distort the science of global warming," said Exxpose Exxon campaign director Shawnee Hoover.
"With ExxonMobil, the more things change, the more they stay the same," she said.
With gas prices hitting record highs and oil company profits following suit, ExxonMobil has yet to pursue any real strategies to help reduce U.S. oil dependence or curb global warming. Unlike oil giants Shell, Chevron and BP, Exxon has yet to set limits on its own greenhouse gas emissions which increased by over 5 percent last year according to its own Corporate Citizenship Report.
ExxonMobil has come under increasing pressure to invest in renewable energy. Exxon president Rex Tillerson justifies the company's position to press and shareholders by repeating that 80 percent of the world's future energy supplies will come from fossil fuels. The numbers he says, are supported by projections made by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"The IEA projection assumes no government action is taken to limit global warming pollution and is based upon trends of the past several decades that do not reflect the changes in energy policies currently underway," says Tim Greeff of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"For Exxon to base its actions today on decade-old trends is like standing in a rainstorm without an umbrella because last week's forecast said it would be sunny," said Greeff.
Exxpose Exxon is encouraging shareholders to speak out at the annual meeting and use the opportunity to steer the company in the right direction. The coalition is specifically calling on ExxonMobil to end its funding of all groups that disseminate misinformation on global warming and to establish clear and transparent standards for advocacy groups that receive future funding. The coalition is also calling for ExxonMobil to support a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions.
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