We know, we don’t expect one of the world’s largest international oil and gas companies to go and start a campaign for environmental awareness, but what’s shocking is to hear an Exxon executive openly describe the different steps that the company takes to fight against any climate-related action.
Exxon is under controversy because of this undercover investigation. In a Zoom call, an ExxonMobil senior lobbyist, Keith McCoy made a number of unsettling remarks about how ExxonMobil helped remove any climate related aspects from President Biden’s infrastructure bill, joining third party groups to work against climate science and even going all the way to divert the blame from the company.
“We were looking out for our investments. We were looking out for our shareholders”, McCoy said.
When the Exxon executive was caught saying they didn’t care about climate change, the company tried to play in the hands of the claim and said that it has “supported climate science for decades”. This statement is consistent with McCoy and shows that the company has put up a sustainable-focused front while fighting with climate legislation and opposing climate change in the shadows.
There is a chance that the claims made by McCoy are half-true since he was just trying to impress the interviewer as he believed it was for a job interview. He may have made up some claims regarding the company to show he was in the know-how of how things actually worked around at Exxon but I don’t think the new employer would be too keen to hire someone who openly claims they don’t care about climate change.
Keith McCoy, you might need to brush up on your interview skills next time.