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Exxon Mobil Corp’s logo is visible during the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference on September 24, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. REUTERS/File Photo/Sergio Moraes (Reuters) – WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) – According to an interview aired on the UK’s Channel 4 on Wednesday, a lobbyist for Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said the business publicly supports a carbon price because the plan to combat climate change will never earn enough political support to be adopted. The TV network showed an interview with senior Washington lobbyist Keith McCoy that it received from Greenpeace UK’s investigative arm, in video that later in the day earned the wrath of Exxon’s chairman and chief executive. Greenpeace volunteers pretended to be headhunters in order to conduct separate Zoom interviews with McCoy and Dan Easley, a former Exxon lobbyist in Washington. “A carbon fee is unlikely to get traction. It’s a dead end, “To the Greenpeace campaigners, McCoy remarked. “‘Yeah, we kind of know that,’ says the cynical part of me. However, it provides us with fodder for discussion.” A request for comment from McCoy was not immediately returned. “I allowed myself to fall for Greenpeace’s lie,” McCoy said on LinkedIn, adding that he was “very humiliated by my statements.” In that post, he apologized to his Exxon coworkers. Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Darren Woods, reacted angrily to McCoy’s remarks. In a statement, Woods stated, “We reject the words and are extremely remorseful for them, especially comments regarding interactions with elected officials.” “These interviews astounded us, and we remain committed to working on solutions to climate change,” Woods added. Exxon shareholders, dissatisfied by low returns and the corporation’s track record on climate change, shook up the company by electing three of four recommended members from activist shareholder Engine No. 1 to Exxon’s board of directors a month ago. find out more ExxonMobil boasted in 2018 about its $1 million investment in a two-year carbon tax advocacy campaign in Congress. It spends $12 million per year on lobbying. Exxon Director Ursula Burns acknowledged earlier this month at a virtual session hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas that the company’s reaction to environmental issues “has not been adequately done.” find out more Greenpeace activists questioned McCoy and Easley about their techniques and stances on a variety of issues, including President Joe Biden’s initial $2 trillion infrastructure bill, which they said they worked on to eliminate important climate components and fight suggestions to boost corporate taxes. According to Easley, the Biden infrastructure plan included renewable energy initiatives that would “accelerate the change that I believe would be difficult to reverse four years from now.” Easley’s LinkedIn page indicates that he started a new position in February, but he could not be reached for comment right away. Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner in Washington contributed reporting.
Matthew Lewis edited the piece.
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