Exxon Lobbyist Says the Quiet Part Out Loud in Leaked Video

• Joe Manchin (D-WV)
• Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
• Jon Tester (D-MT)
• Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
• Chris Coons (D-DE)
• Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
• Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
• John Barrasso (R-WY)
• John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Steve Daines (R-MT)
• Marco Rubio (R-FL)

These are the U.S. senators named successful a video Greenpeace UK released this week successful which lobbyists bull to fossil fuel behemoth Exxon Mobil’s clandestine efforts to look supportive of climate change-mitigation authorities portion simultaneously shoveling wealth to senators hoping they volition enactment to weaken clime elements included successful President Biden’s infrastructure plan.

Greenpeace’s task “Unearthed” features senior manager for national relations, Keith McCoy, and Dan Easley, revealing lobbying strategies that see moving with “shadow groups” and “wins” during the Trump administration.

Assuming helium was speaking with a recruitment consultant, McCoy admits:

“Did we articulation immoderate of these shadiness groups to enactment against immoderate of the aboriginal efforts? Yes, that’s true. But there’s nothing—there’s thing amerciable astir that.”

He adds:

“We’re playing defence due to the fact that President Biden is talking astir this large infrastructure package, and he’s going to wage for it by expanding firm taxes. You instrumentality to highways and bridges, past a batch of the antagonistic worldly starts to travel out, due to the fact that —there’s a germaneness, right? That doesn’t marque immoderate consciousness for a road bill. Why would you enactment in—why would you enactment successful thing connected emissions reductions connected climate change to lipid refineries successful a road bill?”

About the senators successful Exxon’s pocket, McCoy boasts:

“Senator Capito, who’s the ranking subordinate connected environment and nationalist works. Joe Manchin, I speech to his bureau each week, and helium is the kingmaker connected this, due to the fact that he’s a Democrat from West Virginia, which is simply a precise blimpish state. And he’s not shy astir benignant of staking his assertion aboriginal and wholly changing the debate. So, connected the Democrat side, we look for the moderates connected these issues. So it’s the Manchins. It’s the Sinemas. It’s the Testers.”

McCoy confessed Exxon publically supported a c taxation to look progressive, yet successful world regards the argumentation arsenic politically untenable and  improbable to impact the company, explaining:

“I volition archer you, determination is not an appetite for a c tax. It is simply a non-starter. Nobody is going to suggest a taxation connected each Americans. And the cynical broadside of maine says, ‘Yeah, we benignant of cognize that. But it gives america a talking point. We tin say, ‘Well, what is ExxonMobil for? Well, we’re for a c tax.’”

He past drops the astir evident bomb:

“We were looking retired for our investments. We were looking retired for our shareholders.”

When McCoy’s comments were exposed, helium posted to LinkedIn:

“I americium profoundly embarrassed by my comments and that I allowed myself to autumn for Greenpeace’s deception. My statements intelligibly bash not correspond ExxonMobil‘s positions connected important nationalist argumentation issues.”

But this is not deterring Congressmember Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), House Oversight Subcommittee connected the Environment chair, from plans to invitation CEOs of Exxon and different fossil fuel giants to testify earlier the committee astir their engagement successful obfuscating legislature enactment to code the climate emergency.

Khanna has “spoken to a fig of radical successful leadership” astir issuing subpoenas to Exxon, Chevron, and others to hearings connected acheronian money’s power connected climate change disinformation and the relation societal media plays successful perpetuating climate change lies.

Khanna told Politico:

“It is simply a large problem. One of the reasons that we haven’t had enactment is that we don’t person a communal root of facts. Until we lick the climate disinformation contented oregon astatine slightest mitigate the issue, it becomes precise hard to physique a broad-based governmental statement that is needed to instrumentality the benignant of bold steps that are needed to tackle the crisis.”

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods stated the institution “condemn[s] the statements,” explaining they bash not correspond the company’s presumption connected climate change.

However, galore construe this arsenic a disingenuous effort to prevention look aft being caught.

Fossil Free Media manager Jamie Henn tweeted:

This isn’t an apology, it’s a coverup. https://t.co/DlRKYBZB8g

— Jamie Henn (@jamieclimate) July 2, 2021

He told Common Dreams:

“Exxon is successful afloat harm power mode, but I don’t deliberation they tin screen this 1 up. The leaked portion wasn’t from a random intern, but from their elder manager of legislative affairs. The thought that helium wasn’t representing the company’s existent positions is ludicrous.

“It’s worthy reasoning astir wherefore this is truthful damaging for Exxon. After all, they woody with disapproval implicit their lobbying, lipid spills, and contamination each the time, but seldom contented statements, fto unsocial full blog posts, from their CEO. I deliberation they’re particularly freaked retired astir the leaked portion due to the fact that it cuts astatine the halfway of their full governmental strategy: avoiding regularisation by pretending to enactment clime solutions.”

Henn added:

“The statement that they merit a spot astatine the array due to the fact that ‘they enactment a c tax’ has been blown to smithereens. The video confirms what we’ve argued each along: Exxon is trying to pain the table, and the full planet, down to the ground.”

Truthout‘s Candice Bernd tweeted:

Exxon doubles down connected positions its lobbyists confirmed are full artifice and subterfuge. https://t.co/TpkEA9WoCu

— Candice Bernd (@CandiceBernd) July 2, 2021

.@exxonmobil knows that fossil substance burning is contributing to clime change—that’s wherefore they’ve been utilizing @APIenergy arsenic “whipping boys” to get distant with their worst anti-climate moves.https://t.co/dFg4QTG8GG

— Western Values Project (@Western_Values) July 2, 2021

Kyle Herrig, “Accountable.US” president, said successful a statement:

“Exxon’s lobbyist said the quiescent portion retired loud, but the lipid company’s rampant hypocrisy connected clime enactment has agelong been obvious.

“Oil and state companies similar Exxon publically assertion they privation to enactment with the Biden medication to instrumentality existent steps connected clime action. In reality, they’re hiding down the American Petroleum Institute and its unreliable clime commitments—polluting and advocating against the precise aforesaid argumentation changes they privation their shareholders and customers to judge they support.

“These companies person a choice: fess up to their hypocrisy oregon chopped disconnected their connections—and gross streams—to API.”