Exxon CEO denies his company spread disinformation on climate change as Democratic lawmakers demand that Big Oil drops the spin and comes clean on environmental damage at start of congressional hearing
ExxonMobil's chief executive on Thursday hit back at allegations that he and other oil company chiefs had spread disinformation and concealed the dangers of climate change from Americans.
Darren Woods said his company had always been honest about the risks as he delivered testimony at the start of what is billed as a blockbuster congressional investigation into Big Oil.
Democratic lawmakers are planning to grill the heads of four oil companies and two lobby groups.
In his opening remarks. Woods flatly denied that America’s largest oil company had ever spread lies about climate change.
'Exxon does not, and never has, spread disinformation regarding climate change,' he said.
'Its public statements about climate change are, and have been, truthful, fact-based, transparent and consistent with the views of the broader, mainstream scientific community at the time.'
Exxon CEO Darren Woods delivers testimony remotely during the opening session of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Big Oil
Carolyn Maloney, House Oversight Committee chair, demanded that Big Oil come clean as she opened what lawmakers believe will be an historic set of hearings
Woods was among the senior officials from four major oil companies to testify before lawmakers.
Environmental groups and their congressional allies hope the hearing evokes the Big Tobacco hearings of the 1990s, which began a shift in public opinion about that industry.
But Republicans see a publicity stunt at a time when Americans are dealing with high gas prices and inflation.
'The purpose of this hearing is clear: to deliver partisan theater for primetime news," said Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the committee.
The session opened with Carolyn Maloney, House Oversight Committee chair, demanding that Big Oil come clean.
'They promised they will reduce their carbon emissions, and even aspire to net zero emissions,' she said in her opening statement.
'And they've spent billions of dollars on PR firms to paint themselves as climate champions.
'But Big Oil's actions tell a different story. These companies not only continued to sell millions of barrels of oil every day, they are also investing in new oil fields.'
The committee published a memo before the hearing claiming the industry's public statements of support for reform had not been met by action.
Maloney and other Democrats have focused particular anger on Exxon, after a senior lobbyist for the company was caught by Greenpeace on video bragging the company had fought climate science through 'shadow groups' and had targeted influential senators in an effort to weaken US President Joe Biden's climate agenda.
The video played during the morning session.
'Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes,' said lobbyist Keith McCoy.
'Did we hide our science? Absolutely not.
'Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that’s true. But there’s nothing illegal about that.'
Representative Ro Khanna (pictured), chair of the environment subcommittee on the Environment, is leading the hearings along with Representative Carolyn Maloney, chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee
Maloney used her time to ask if any of the six witnesses disagreed with the U.S. government that climate change represented an 'existential threat.'
They responded with silence.
'So, the truth is clear: Climate change is real, burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of this crisis and it is urgent that we fix it,' said Maloney.
'This is the first time each of you has told Congress this and it is significant and important.'
Energy industry representatives plan to focus on their current support of climate action.
'The narrative is, in my view, simple: they know they lied and they continue to deceive,' Representative Ro Khanna, co-chair of the environment subcommittee on the Environment, told Reuters in an interview. 'And if we can establish that I think it will be a Big Tobacco moment for Big Oil.'
It marks the first time that executives of the top oil majors - ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, BP America and Chevron - and the heads of the American Petroleum Institute and Chamber of Commerce will answer questions about climate change in Congress under oath.
Republicans invited Neal Crabtree, a worker who lost his job after Biden canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline, to testify to the panel.
He said be believed he was the first victim of the president's Build Back Better agenda, three hours after the inauguration, when Biden canceled plans for the Keystone XL Pipeline
'Not only did I lose an opportunity for employment on the Keystone, but Im losing employment opportunities because of energy companies seem to be hesitant to plan other needed projects that we need in this country,' he said.
This summer, the United Nations released a report warning that unless immediate, rapid and large-scale action is taken to reduce emissions, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees F) warming threshold within 20 years.
A year's worth of investigations into whether Big Oil deceived Americans about the industry's role in climate change will be opened by Congress today
BP America's CEO David Lawler and Shell Oil's CEO Gretchen Watkins plan to talk about their recognition that climate change was a problem in the 1990s and about their current efforts to adapt their business models to add more renewable energy and lower emissions, according to prepared testimony.
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods will say that the company 'responded accordingly' when the 'scientific community's understanding of climate change developed' and that oil and gas will still be needed to meet growing global energy demand.
And the energy interests are also likely to say that more time is needed for a transition to cleaner energy.
Suzanne Clark, the president and CEO of the Chamber, will tell lawmakers that one of President Joe Biden's top climate aides, John Kerry, said this year that half of the emissions cuts needed to get to net zero will come from technologies that are not developed yet, according to her written testimony.
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