Exxon CEO denies spreading climate disinformation
WASHINGTON >> ExxonMobil’s chief executive said Thursday that his company “does not spread disinformation regarding climate change” as he and other oil company chiefs countered congressional allegations the industry concealed evidence about the dangers of global warming.
Testifying at a landmark House hearing, CEO Darren Woods said ExxonMobil “has long acknowledged the reality and risks of climate change, and it has devoted significant resources to addressing those risks.”
The oil giant’s public statements on climate “are and have always been truthful, fact-based ... and consistent” with mainstream climate science, Woods said.
Democrats immediately challenged the statements by Woods and other oil executives, accusing them of engaging in a decadeslong, industry-wide campaign to spread disinformation about the contribution of fossil fuels to global warming.
“They are obviously lying like the tobacco executives were,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee.
She was referring to a 1994 hearing with tobacco executives who famously testified that they didn’t believe nicotine was addictive. The reference was one of several to the tobacco hearing as Democrats sought to pin down oil executives on whether they believe in climate change and that burning fossil fuels such as oil contributes to global warming.
The hearing comes after months of public efforts by Democrats to obtain documents and other information on the oil industry’s role in stopping climate action over multiple decades. The fossil fuel industry has had scientific evidence about the dangers of climate change since at least 1977, yet spread denial and doubt about the harm of its products — undermining science and preventing meaningful action on climate change, Maloney and other Democrats said.