ExxonMobil, the oil giant, has a long history of blatant hypocrisy about global warming. While publicly claiming to be concerned about the world environment it covertly provided millions of dollars in funding efforts to deny it as a threat to the health of our planet. The company CEO’s have flat out denied there is a human created problem and the oil giant has worked to obscure the subject with endless smoke and mirror tactics. Its last CEO, Lee Raymond, whose golden parachute was a world record payment, was an outspoken skeptic about the connection between fossil fuel and global warming. He dismissed the very idea of climate change while funding ways here and in Europe to muddy of the water about the issue While the company has been raking in mind boggling record profits it has been systematically blurring the facts about global warming. See previous posts on this blog including Global Warming & ExxonMobil 12/19/06.

Now, the new CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, during a speech at a gathering of big oil CEO’s in Houston on February 13^th, has acknowledged the earth’s climate is changing, the temperature rising and greenhouse gas emissions increasing – a new public position for the company. But, he was quick to caution the subject is a complex area of scientific study and governments should not "rush into policies" that could damage the economy in an effort to limit carbon emissions.

Then in comments to reporters he claimed he had not read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report issued by a leading panel of international scientists dealing with global warming – surprising omission by the CEO of an oil giant. When reporters pointed out the panel had concluded there is a ninety percent certainty that human activity is the decisive factor in global warming, Tillerson said that it wasn’t "a clear one hundred percent" conclusion. He added that "nobody can conclusively one hundred percent know…"global warming is caused by human activity. ExxonMobil just can’t bring itself to made a clean break with its past conduct and has to continue claim there is still doubt in the face of international scientific consensus.

But, in any event, since when is one hundred percent scientific proof required before a corporation has a responsibility to act regarding global disaster in the face of ninety percent proof? Only big tobacco and big oil demand one hundred percent conclusive proof their products cause harm before they will act. The rest of the normal world balances the degree of harm against the amount of evidence and uses common sense in acting to protect people and the environment from harmful consequences. But not big tobacco and big oil.

Nor does Tillerson’s grudging acknowledgment mean ExxonMobil plans to do anything about the problem. The lure of more record making profits in black gold is so strong that it will take federal action to make changes in this industry. Restrictions on emissions and application of anti trust laws against these oil giants are needed on a federal level. Requirements that some of their outlandish profits be applied to reduction of emissions along with laws that treat the reality that the oil industry is a cartel out of control are needed. Thanks to the Bush administration being totally in bed with the oil industry the situation has grown notably worse over time and it’s time for a change before it is too late.