Washington Lawsuit reveals…ExxonMobil admits climate change exists, but continues to lie about its efforts to address phenomenon

Jun 29, 2020 News

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From 2010 to 2018, Exxon spent only 0.2% of its capital expenditures on low-carbon energy systems, with nearly the totality of its spending (99.8%) focused on maintaining and expanding fossil fuel production.

By Kiana Wilburg

When they were told by in-house scientists in the 1950s that their hydro-carbon products would heighten the catastrophic consequences of climate change, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and British Petroleum (BP), employed numerous deceptive tactics to hide what they had learnt.
They hired scientists to sow seeds of confusion about the validity of climate change and even funded organizations to create false narratives about the existence of the phenomenon. These oil giants feared that if consumers knew the dangers associated with their products, they would run to other alternative sources of energy, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.
Despite their best efforts—some of which were successful for nearly five decades—the world has come to grips with the reality that climate change is an undisputable phenomenon which all must seek to address. In the midst of this global awareness, ExxonMobil in particular has engaged in an advertising campaign to convince all and sundry that it has accepted that climate change is real and it is reducing its carbon footprint.
But a recent lawsuit that was brought against it and other majors by the Attorney General of Washington D.C, Karl A. Racine, indicates that the oil giant continues to deceive the masses.
According to Racine, Exxon is currently running a series of full-page advertisements in print editions and posts in the electronic edition of the New York Times, and in other publications with wide circulation to DC consumers, such as The Economist, as well as on Exxon’s YouTube channel. In those ads, Racine contends that Exxon misleadingly promotes its efforts to develop energy from alternative sources such as algae and plant waste. The Attorney General, however, stated that these efforts are “vanishingly small” when compared to the investments Exxon continues to make in fossil fuel production.
Expounding further, the Attorney General pointed to an online advertisement in the New York Times which promotes the company’s development of algae into biofuels. Racine highlighted that the ad omits to inform readers that it is extremely difficult to produce algae for biofuel on a large scale due to the massive amounts of land and fertilizer that would be needed to support such a venture.
The advertisement also misleadingly tells consumers that Exxon is “working to decrease its overall carbon footprint,” and that the company’s “sustainable and environmentally friendly” biodiesel fuel could reduce “carbon emissions from transportation” by greater than 50%. The Attorney General indicated that the advertisement is also utterly misleading.
The Attorn

ey General pointed out that the company’s spending tells the true picture of ExxonMobil’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. In this regard, Racine noted that from 2010 to 2018, Exxon spent only 0.2% of its capital expenditures on low-carbon energy systems, with nearly the totality of its spending (99.8%) focused on maintaining and expanding fossil fuel production. Further to this, the official noted in the lawsuit that ExxonMobil has simultaneously invested billions of dollars into the development of Canadian tar sands projects which accounts for some of the most carbon intensive oil extraction projects in the world.
Additionally, the Attorney General noted that in 2016, Exxon earned US$198 billion in revenue but invested less than 1% of that in alternative energy research, including algae. Taking this into consideration, Racine said it is pellucid that Exxon continues to deceive the masses by painting a false picture of its efforts to address climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS:
Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall —over a long period of time. Scientists have observed that the Earth’s surface is warming, and many of the warmest years on record have happened in the past 20 years. The effects of a warming planet, particularly from massive fossil fuel burning include, but are not limited to: increased sea levels; increased ocean temperature and acidity; extreme weather including heat and drought, as well as extreme precipitation events, wildfires, flooding, and more frequent, longer-lasting, and more severe storms.These events threaten human health, food security, agriculture, economic productivity, water supplies, national security, and labour productivity. The effects of climate change also damage public infrastructure and social systems, and exacerbate economic inequality. Furthermore, a warmer planet poses a significantly increased risk for biodiversity, species loss and extinction, and ecosystem impacts, as well as enormous economic injuries and losses on individuals, communities, and public and private institutions.

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