As ExxonMobil pursues litigation against activist shareholders who seek to push the biggest of all Big Oil behemoths to tougher environmental standards, CEO Darren Woods knows who to blame for the worsening climate crisis. It's not his company or its major competitors.
In a recent interview with Fortune, Woods argued that the oil industry is not primarily to blame for climate. The world “waited too long” to develop green technologies, Woods said, while defending Exxon's reluctance to invest in wind and solar power to the extent many European energy companies have. He described that as “a hollow argument," adding that Exxon could not "bring any real capabilities to that space" and did not "see the ability to generate better-than-average returns for our investors.” Speaking about the goal to reach "net zero" in greenhouse gas emissions, Woods suggested that it might prove too expensive for consumers, arguing that "people who are generating the emissions need to be aware … and pay the price."
Woods also defended Exxon's lawsuit against activist shareholders, characterizing them as not "real investors."
“We want to cater to the shareholders ... who have an interest in seeing this company succeed in generating return on their investments," Woods explained. "We don't feel a responsibility to activists that hijack that process … and, frankly, abuse it to advance an ideology.”
Climate activists have accused Exxon and other Big Oil companies of stifling dissent.
The climate reform movement is "facing steep charges because the industry sees that fossil fuels are losing," Michael Greenberg, founder of the environmental protest group Climate Defiance, told Salon last month. "The industry is pulling out progressively more desperate measures to try to stop the movement."
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