ExxonMobil shareholders rebuff concerns on climate change

ExxonMobil shareholders voted against several resolutions ON May 31 proposed by dissident investors that had sought to get the world's largest oil company to change its climate policies.
The votes, defeating resolutions which urged ExxonMobil to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to boost its sourcing of renewable energy, occurred at ExxonMobil's annual shareholder meeting in Dallas, Texas.
Top executives, including ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson, had urged shareholders to reject the motions. The votes marked a defeat for a group of large public pension funds who are ExxonMobil shareholders including the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the biggest US public pension fund, and the New York City Employees Retirement System among others.
The pension funds were also defeated in their efforts to persuade shareholders not to renominate Michael Boskin as a company director. The disgruntled shareholders had sought to block Boskin's re-appointment, claiming that he had the power to change ExxonMobil's stance on climate change as the head of ExxonMobil's Public Issues Committee.
Another measure had proposed that the oil giant, which reported record profits of 39.5 billion dollars in 2006, inform drivers about the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by gasoline or diesel purchases at fuel stations.
That measure was also overwhelming defeated by company shareholders.
ExxonMobil's CEO was repeatedly challenged during the hours-long meeting, which was broadcast over the Internet, about the group's climate stance.
Without referring explicitly to global warming or climate change, Tillerson said the jury was still out on the "complex issue of climate science." "There's much we know and can agree on, and there's much we do not know," Tillerson said.
Challenged about ExxonMobil's donations to certain scientists evaluating the world's climate, Tillerson replied: "We don't fund junk science." "Why that's been put out there to disparage us is beyond me. It's not true. This is an issue for the next 10, 20 years we're going to continue to learn about," he said.
ExxonMobil says it is moving to improve its energy efficiency while also seeking to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by moving to stop gas flaring at its Nigerian operations.