Exxon CEO denies spreading disinformation on climate change

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 it.

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, factbased ... and consistent" with mainstream climate science, Woods said.

Woods was among top officials at four major oil companies testifying Thursday as congressional Democrats investigate what they describe as a decades-long, industry-wide campaign to spread disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming.

The much-anticipated hearing before the House Oversight Committee 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 appearance of the four oil executives — from ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP America and Shell — has drawn comparisons to a highprofile hearing in the 1990s with tobacco executives who famously testified that they didn't believe nicotine was addictive.

"The fossil fuel industry has had scientific evidence about the dangers of climate change since at least 1977. Yet for decades, the industry spread denial and doubt about the harm of its products — undermining the science and preventing meaningful action on climate change even as the global climate crisis became increasingly dire,'' said Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

"For far too long, Big Oil has escaped accountability for its central role in bringing our planet to the brink of a climate catastrophe. That ends today," said Maloney, who chairs the Oversight panel.