Exxon's excuses
pirate | 15.02.2005 16:35 | Ecology | World
Thank you for your recent letter to ExxonMobil.
Date: Feb 14 2005, 11:39 PM
You recently wrote to ExxonMobil regarding our position on the Kyoto
Protocol. At ExxonMobil, we believe that good citizenship means helping to
meet the growing demand for energy in an economically, environmentally and
socially responsible manner.
ExxonMobil believes that climate change presents a significant risk to
society and to ecosystems. While studies must continue to better understand
these risks and possible consequences, we will continue to take tangible
actions and work with others to develop long-term solutions to minimize the
risk of climate change from energy use without preventing developing
nations from enjoying the benefits of economic growth.
Any approach to managing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions must
take into account the reality that these emissions are the result of the
beneficial use of energy by people around the world. Today, 1.5 billion
people in these countries today do not have access to affordable energy for
heating, cooling, transportation or cooking. And in the next 20 years the
world?s population will increase by another 1.5 billion.
We opposed the Kyoto Protocol because it would do little to reduce the risk
of climate change and because the costs to society of the measures
necessary to reach its targets were huge. Other experts and government
leaders shared our concern that the Protocol was too costly to be workable
and too flawed to be effective. The likely failure of many European
countries to meet their Kyoto targets is a reflection of that reality. We
believe that these are rational and legitimate concerns which needed to be
addressed.
We continue to reduce our own emissions globally. Uncertainty is no reason
for not taking appropriate action now. Our actions include:
· Reducing carbon emissions at our refineries and chemical plants by
200 million metric tons over the last 25 years. This is a 37% improvement
in the efficiency of our operations.
· Expanding co-generation facilities at our refineries and chemical
plants, making electricity and steam twice as efficiently as separate
conventional power generation units. This reduces CO2 emissions by almost 7
million tons a year (the equivalent of taking 750,000 cars off the road).
· Transparent reporting of carbon dioxide emissions from our
operations.
· Supporting mandatory and consistent greenhouse gas emissions
reporting by all companies and working actively to develop standards for
such reporting.
· In addition, among private companies, ExxonMobil is the world's
leader in natural gas sales and reserves. Natural gas is an important
component in meeting the growing demand for energy.
So what is to be done if we wish to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Recognizing the need of developing countries to alleviate poverty and
increase incomes, we believe any long-term approach must accommodate
emissions growth from developing countries. The best of today's
technologies and innovative new ones for transportation and electricity
generation will be required to satisfy the dual goals of increased economic
development and reduced GHG emissions on a global basis.
We are supplementing our internal research with cooperative efforts with
numerous universities and research centers as well as through partnerships
with other corporations. For example, our efforts include joint research
with auto manufacturers on advanced fuel technologies such as hydrogen.
Our $100 million contribution to the Global Climate and Energy Project
(GCEP) at Stanford University demonstrates our commitment to support
innovative technological solutions for energy supply and use with lower
greenhouse gas emissions. GCEP is looking at the full spectrum of energy
resources and end uses including carbon sequestration, hydrogen, fuels
derived from plants and renewable energy. You can obtain additional
information from GCEP?s website at
http://gcep.stanford.edu/. At ExxonMobil, we take industry's challenge of meeting the world's energy
needs very seriously. We encourage you to visit our website for additional
information on this and other important issues. Additional information on
our position and actions, including a report titled "A Report on Energy
Trends, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Alternative Energy", can be found at
our website www.exxonmobil.com.
I hope these additional materials and comments will convey a greater
perspective on our views.
Sincerely,
Kenneth P. Cohen
Vice President -- Public Affairs
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Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
ExxonMobil: poison
15.02.2005 19:09
Massive profits for U.S. oil companies, led by ExxonMobil, were predicted in 2002 by campaigners in the run up to war with Iraq. “Based on profits of $5 a barrel, releasing five million new barrels of oil into world supply would mean profits in excess of $9bn annually. In addition, when Iraq announced in September that it would allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country, thus averting at least momentarily the US call for military action, the company's share price fell over five percent.”
The Republican Party was given $1.2 million by ExxonMobil in 2000, second only to Enron as a corporate contibuter. Pacificenvirionment.org reports that, “It has spent well over $47 million lobbying the US Congress and Presidential Administrations since 1997. On September 26, the company signed a $50 million contract to supply fuel to the US Military. A peaceful resolution to this issue [impending war with Iraq] does not seem to be in the best interests of ExxonMobil investors.”
The company also owns Esso and its petrol stations around Europe are subject to boycotts by StopEsso campaigners angry about its stance on global warming.
The company website boasts that “Esso fuels one in six cars and serves an average of 40,000 customers an hour, 365 days a year. With around 1,080 sites our retail network is one of the biggest chains in the UK.” Esso also operates 31 motorway forecourts in the UK, selling fuel to a quarter of all motorway travellers.
Tomorrow (16 February 2005), the Kyoto Protocol comes into effect. Signed by over 180 countries in 1997, the treaty sets targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It has not been signed by the United States.
Greenpeace uncovered a routine email in a Freedom of Information Act request showing correspondence between Myron Ebell of the Exxon-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute and Phil Cooney, a senior official at the White House Council for Environmental Quality. Greenpeace reports that:
'In the message, Ebell outlines plans to discredit a study on climate change through a lawsuit. He states the need to "drive a wedge between the President and those in the Administration who think that they are serving the president's interests by publishing this rubbish." He notes his group is considering a call for the then-head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, to resign, and openly suggests that she'd make an appropriate "fall gal" if the administration is serious about getting back into bed with conservatives opposing action on climate change.'
What else is there to do? Boycott ExxonMobil, boycott Esso and ++CRASH THE EMPIRE++
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Oil industry?Kyoto Protocol: poison
15.02.2005 21:52
Also, re. Kyoto, check out this statement about the mechanisms that are entrenched within it:
CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!
A CALL FOR PEOPLES’ ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
Representatives from organizations and peoples’ movements from around the globe came together in Durban, South Africa October 4-7, 2004 to discuss realistic avenues for addressing climate change. The group emerged from the meeting with this call for a global grassroots movement against climate change.
Twelve years ago governments took serious note of and agreed to address the issue of global warming. They signed and ratified the Convention on Climate Change. Five years later, they agreed on the Kyoto Protocol, which was to establish concrete commitments to reduce fossil fuel emissions from Northern countries. This Protocol has yet to come into effect .
The emission reductions that the Kyoto Protocol established for industrialized countries were only 5.2% below 1990 levels—which most scientists agree is completely inadequate to effectively address global warming. Even these inadequate targets are being evaded through schemes such as carbon trading including the establishment of carbon “sinks” like monoculture tree plantations—mainly in the Global South. These schemes are being embraced by the very entities that are destroying the Earth. Meanwhile destruction of true carbon reservoirs like native forests continues unabated, leading to yet more releases of greenhouse gases.
For this reason, the Durban Group calls on grassroots activists and organizations around the world to stand up for real action on climate change.
Communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and the false “solutions” put forward by the Kyoto Protocol (including carbon sink projects and continued fossil fuel exploration, extraction and burning) include small island states, whose very existence is threatened, as well as indigenous peoples, the poor and the marginalized, particularly women, children and the elderly around the world.
The refusal of governments and international financial institutions like the World Bank to force corporations to phase out use of fossil fuels, and which in fact encourage accelerated use of increasingly limited fossil fuel stocks, is causing more and more military conflicts around the world, magnifying social and environmental injustice.
Just as peoples’ movements are rising up around the world against the privatization of water and biodiversity, so must we rise up against the privatization of the air, which is being promoted through the establishment of a massive “carbon market.”
If we are to avert a climate crisis, drastic reductions in fossil fuel investment and use are inescapable, as is the protection of remaining native forests. The current flawed approach of international negotiations must be met by the active participation of a global movement of Northern and Southern peoples to take the climate back into their hands.
We therefore call on activists, organizations and communities to sign on to the statement that emerged from the Durban meeting and join this growing global movement.
To sign on to the Climate Justice Now! statement please send an email to
Kenny Lay
boycott strategy
15.02.2005 22:48
no, boycott american corporations. think dominoes.
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