Believe It Or Not: Exxon Mobil Now Favors a Tax on Carbon http://www.bloomberg.com/ Tax Me, Says Exxon Mobil, in Declaring Support for Climate Talks
From an Article by Alex Nussbaum, Bloomberg Business News, December 2,
2015 Exxon Mobil Corp., a _favorite target _ (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-02/turning-exxon-s-tiger-into... an) of global warming activists, said (last week) that it’s hopeful for a deal out of the climate-change talks in Paris and still thinks the best solution is a tax on carbon pollution. As the United Nations negotiations moved into a third day, the world’s biggest oil explorer said in an _blog post_ (http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/?p=15102?utm_source=subscription&u... cle:+ExxonMobil+on+the+U.N.+climate+talks) that it supports “meaningful action to address the risks of climate change” as long as it preserved access to the reliable and affordable energy. “The long-term objective of climate-change policy should be to reduce the risks of serious harm to humanity and ecosystems at minimum societal cost, while recognizing shared humanitarian necessities,” Exxon Mobil General Counsel Ken Cohen wrote in the post. In the run-up to the Paris talks that began November 30th, Exxon has been under heavy assault by environmentalists and politicians who say it misled the public by promoting uncertainties about climate science. New York State’s attorney general has _subpoenaed_ (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/everything-you-need-to-kno... te-change-probe) company records about its research going back decades, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a Rolling Stone _interview_ (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-kerry-on-climate-change-the-f... f-our-time-20151201) published Tuesday, said Exxon’s actions would amount to “a betrayal” of humanity if it’s found to have suppressed knowledge about climate risks. Revenue-Neutral Tax Exxon has said it made its research public and did nothing wrong. The Irving, Texas-based explorer takes climate change seriously and has taken steps to reduce its own emissions, Cohen said in today’s post. The most effective solution would be a revenue-neutral tax on greenhouse gas emissions, Cohen wrote, reiterating a position Exxon has held for years. “Instead of subsidies and mandates that distort markets, stifle innovation, and needlessly raise energy costs, a carbon tax could help create the conditions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a way that spurs new efficiencies and technologies,” he said. “The revenue-neutral carbon tax could be a workable policy framework for countries around the world.” Long a hard-line opponent to climate-friendly carbon limits, Exxon began to soften its outlook and embrace the need to curb greenhouse gases in 2006 when Rex Tillerson succeeded Lee Raymond as chairman and CEO. The company’s $35 billion takeover of XTO Energy in 2010 was inspired in part by expectations that stricter climate rules would spur natural gas demand as a replacement for dirtier coal. # # # # # # # # # # NOTE: Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is an international _grassroots_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots) environmental group that trains and supports volunteers to build relationships with their elected representatives in order to influence _climate policy_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_policy) . Operating since 2007, the goal of CCL is to build bipartisan support to put a _price on carbon_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_price) , specifically a revenue neutral _carbon fee and dividend_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fee_and_dividend) at the national level. CCL is supported by notable climate scientists _James Hansen_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hansen) , _Katharine Hayhoe_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Hayhoe) , and _Daniel Kammen_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kammen) . CCL's advisory board also include _George Shultz_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Shultz) , former Secretary of State, former US Representative _Bob Inglis_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Inglis) of South Carolina and many others. Membership is now over 20,000. The WV State chapter of CCL is headed by Jim Probst (_probstfurnituremakers@gmail.com_ (mailto:probstfurnituremakers@gmail.com) ) . The recently formed chapter in Morgantown is being coordinated by Kayde Cappellari (_k.cappellari@gmail.com_ (mailto:k.cappellari@gmail.com) ) and her son Torrence. Every Wednesday at 8 pm Eastern time, an introductory CCL conference call-in is held. You can join in here: _http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org_ (http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org/) https://citizensclimatelobby.org/join-weekly-intro-call/