Exxon’s Pretend Response To Climate Change

Inside Exxon’s climate-change strategy

Amy Harder, March 26, 2018 (Axios)

“…[ExxonMobil, the] world’s largest publicly traded oil company] is at the center of lawsuits alleging big oil companies knew about and concealed the dangers of climate change for decades, and a record share of its investors have urged it to be more transparent about the risks climate poses to its business…A new Exxon report on navigating a carbon-constrained world, combined with recent comments by top executives, make Exxon’s approach clear. The company is doubling down on a decade-old strategy by making relatively small, long-term investments in two costly technologies: carbon capture and algae biofuels as a way to stay focused on its core hydrocarbon business…

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If technology can capture carbon from natural gas, the fuel will thrive longer under policies demanding sharp emission cuts…The use of algae biofuels will further the use of internal combustion engines in cars over electric batteries…Exxon held a first-ever dedicated session on climate change with analysts earlier this month during an annual meeting…[It argued a] carbon tax of $100 a ton is needed to make carbon-capture technologies viable…[For biofuels to work, the tax] would have to be even higher. Existing carbon prices around the world are much lower…Exxon's climate report to shareholders released in February assumes a massive expansion of the carbon-capture market in the coming decades along with increased demand for natural gas…[Exxon's strategy allows it to] address climate change without fundamentally changing its business model…” click here for more

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