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At a heated hearing on Thursday, Democrats had some big questions for senior executives at Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell: Will they promise to stop lobbying against emissions reduction efforts? And were they willing to tell powerful trade groups to stop working against electric vehicles?
None of the managers agreed.
Instead, leaders of the four major oil and gas companies have touted their support for the clean energy transition and said they have never engaged in campaigns to mislead the public about the role of fossil fuel emissions in global warming. All four agreed that the burning of their products is triggering climate change, but also told lawmakers that fossil fuels are not on the verge of extinction.
“Oil and gas will continue to be essential for the foreseeable future,” said Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil. “We currently do not have enough alternative energy sources.”
Democrats responded harshly to the hearing, which lasted more than six hours. “Some of us have to live the future you’ve all set on fire for us,” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told executives.
Democrats hoped to recapture the US drama. The tobacco trials of the 1990s, where lawmakers put the CEOs of cigarette companies in the hot seat and every executive told the country that smoking is not addictive. There was a demonstration with a jar of M&Ms to shout, embarrass, and point out that companies are investing relatively little in renewable energy. 1 percent of total capital expendituresAccording to the International Energy Agency.
But executives—Mr. Woods of Exxon Mobil, Gretchen Watkins of Shell, Michael K. Wirth of Chevron, and David Lawler of BP—seemed to have learned from the tobacco trials, sticking to their scenarios and emphasizing their concerns about global warming. and referring to its internal targets to reduce emissions.
Four executives, along with Suzanne Clark of the United States Chamber of Commerce and Mike Sommers of the industry group American Petroleum Institute, appeared on video screens rather than in person over pandemic concerns.
Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee questioned the premise of the hearings, calling it a distraction from the more pressing issues facing the nation, and saying oil executives should be thanked for keeping homes warm and lights on for decades.
“I’ll tell you what’s frustrating is when a member of Congress tells American oil and gas companies to cut production,” said Jim Jordan, Republican Representative of Ohio, adding that he thinks these companies should be praised rather than increased. “God bless Chevron,” he said.
The trial was the first time that oil executives were put under public pressure to answer questions under oath about whether their companies misled the public about the reality of climate change by concealing the scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels raises Earth’s temperature and sea levels. with devastating consequences Worldwide, including severe storms, worsening drought and more deadly wildfires.
It came when President Biden called on lawmakers to vote to approve a deal. The $1.85 trillion climate and social policy package. On Monday, Mr. Biden will speak with world leaders at the United Nations summit in Glasgow, proving that the US is reducing emissions and encouraging other countries to do more.
At Thursday’s House hearing, some of the biggest moments focused on what oil executives wouldn’t say.
In an exchange, the committee’s chair, New York Representative Carolyn Maloney, asked all four of them whether they would commit directly or indirectly to no longer spend money to oppose efforts to reduce emissions and address climate change.
“Are you going to take the statement? Yes or No?” Representative Maloney said.
In another, California Democrat Representative Ro Khanna asked executives to tell the American Petroleum Institute and other trade groups that companies pay to represent their interests in Washington stop funding ads against electric vehicles and other climate policies.
“It sits right next to you on the virtual screen,” Mr. Khanna said of Mr. Sommers, head of API. “Tell them to cut it.”
Managers did not comply with both requests.
“I will commit to continuing to be an active member of the API,” said Shell’s Ms Watkins.
API, an industry group of which four companies are members, said in Thursday’s House statement. spent almost half a million dollars advertising Against Democratic Congressmen. These ads, which include ads targeting members of Congress to support climate policies, have been viewed at least 21 million times, according to Facebook data.
Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil, has faced questions over the years about company statements that cast doubt on whether fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change. He said the positions were “fully consistent” with the scientific consensus of the time.
He also said that a 1997 statement by Lee Raymond, then CEO of Exxon, about the role of human activity in warming, stating that “at the moment, the scientific evidence is insufficient” is “consistent with science”. Two years ago, the United Nations’ top climate science body reached a consensus that global warming is occurring and that burning fossil fuels is a major cause.
Mr Woods also said that Exxon Mobil now recognizes climate change, but solving it “has no easy answers”.
Other managers agreed. Mr Lawler said the fact that his company’s goal of reaching “net zero” by 2050 – meaning it will no longer pump any additional greenhouse gases from its operations into the atmosphere – does not mean that “BP will get out of this situation. oil and gas business.” “The undeniable fact is that oil and gas continues to be part of the energy equation,” said Mr Wirth of Chevron.
A key Republican witness was Neal Crabtree, a former worker at the Keystone XL pipeline, a construction project by President Biden. It is cancelled Opening Day, which will transport crude oil from the oil sands of Canada to the United States. Just hours after Mr. Biden took office, Mr. Crabtree said he lost his job, making him a victim of policies that are killing the fossil fuel business. (He said he’s since found another job.)
“There seems to be no consideration given to the hundreds of thousands of workers in this industry,” he said. “I spent more than 25 years developing the skills I have,” he said. “I’m too far away to start over in life.”
Senior Republican Kentucky Representative on the oversight committee, James Comer, said Democrats were ignoring the bread and butter issues facing Americans like Mr. Crabtree. “It is critical that this committee examines the immediate concerns of American citizens,” he said, citing inflation, high gas prices, immigration concerns and the coronavirus pandemic. He didn’t mention the climate.
The catalyst for the parliamentary sessions was an operation by activist group Greenpeace earlier this year. The group filmed An Exxon lobbyist who says the company is fighting climate science through “shadow groups” and targeted influential senators in an attempt to undermine President Biden’s climate proposals.
Mr Woods said at the time that the comments “do not represent in any way the company’s position, and that some senators later exaggerated the lobbyist’s affiliations or had no affiliation with him”. A short time later, Mr. Khanna urged industry executives to testify before Congress.
Also at the hearing, Ms. Maloney published a report showing that few people were lobbying for the Paris agreement, although House committee staff said all four oil companies supported the Paris agreement, a 2015 international agreement aimed at keeping global temperatures at relatively safe levels. support it. The report found that the vast majority of companies’ lobbying efforts were aimed at lowering taxes.
Former President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris agreement during his tenure. President Biden rejoined in January.
According to the study, four oil companies and trade groups have reported 4,597 Congressional lobbying cases since this deal was signed. Of these, only eight referred to lobbying on the Paris Agreement, and none mentioned lobbying on legislation to reduce carbon emissions and promote the agreement’s goals.
Ms Maloney said she plans to send subpoenas to companies to see if they’re spending to fund climate policy campaigns, and if so, how much. While the companies submitted thousands of pages of documents to the committee, many of them were of little use, he said. One company said it printed 1,500 pages from its website.
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