Just when people were starting to think that ExxonMobil might be ready to acknowledge its role in global warming, CEO Rex Tillerson showed his true stripes yesterday during a speech at an industry gathering. Mr. Tillerson brought out his collection of broken records and played those moldy oldie skeptic's favorites 'uncertainty,' 'more to learn,' and 'don't go too fast,' revealing that his company really hasn't changed its tune at all and continues its morally reprehensible denial of fact.
Tillerson told reporters attending the speech that he hadn't read the new IPCC report. Yeah right. (And by the way, Rex, even if that were true, I wouldn't go around admitting it.) When you're the CEO of the world's largest oil company, why would you care about the consensus view of the world's best scientists that there is over 90 percent certainty manmade emissions are responsible for global warming and we urgently need to act?
If a doctor told him he was 90 percent certain he had cancer would Tillerson take action or say 'don't go too fast, that isn't quite certain enough'? Would he use the same argument he offered the industry gathering yesterday: "My understanding is there's not a clear 100 percent conclusion drawn... Nobody can conclusively 100 percent know how this is going to play out. I think that's important." No snarky comment here would do that quote justice.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil Vice President Ken Cohen spent Monday afternoon on the phone trying to convince a few left-leaning bloggers that the company has always acknowledged global warming and really has just been misunderstood. One of the bloggers on the conference call, MyDD's Matt Stoller, pressed Cohen about the company's lengthy multi-million dollar misinformation campaign to confuse the public. Stoller reports that: "Cohen was shocked when I confronted him, and said 'It's like you think this is a moral issue'. What is wrong with these people?"
Good question. This company's relentless denial is mind-boggling. Tillerson and Cohen have once again demonstrated that ExxonMobil's recent attempts to scrub its image are as hollow as their understanding of the urgent climate crisis. Somebody call a doctor, ExxonMobil is choking on its own hypocrisy.