Oil producers deny spreading false facts

WASHINGTON — Top executives of Exxonmobil and other oil giants denied spreading disinformation about climate

change as they sparred Thursday with congressional Democrats over allegations that the

industry concealed evidence about the dangers of global warming.

Testifying at a landmark House hearing, Exxonmobil CEO Darren Woods said the company “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 decades-long, 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.

Republicans accused Democrats of grandstanding over an

issue popular with their base as President Joe Biden’s climate agenda teeters in Congress.

Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the top Republican on the oversight panel, called the

hearing a “distraction from the crises that the Biden administration’s policies have caused,” including gasoline prices that have risen by $1 per gallon since January.

“The purpose of this hearing is clear: to deliver partisan theater for primetime news,” Comer said.