Towards the end of Pres. Obama’s administration, there was a push to blame the large oil and gas companies for misleading the world about the risks of climate change. Exxon became the focal point of this movement, with investigators from climate-focused news outlets reporting that scientists at the company understood the basic science behind climate change as far back as 1977.
Activists have accused Exxon of hiding the science of climate change to protect their profits, just like tobacco companies hid the science of lung cancer. ExxonMobil (Exxon’s current name) has denied the charges, saying that Exxon actively studied and published research on climate change. The company says their research found disagreements over the risk of climate change, and ExxonMobil says that activists are digging up publicly-available research published by Exxon and pretending that as some kind of “bombshell whistle-blower expose.”
In the past few years multiple efforts have been launched as part of this “ExxonKnew” movement. In 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began to look into the issue. The SEC requires publicly-traded companies like Exxon to publish transparent reports on their company's health. The SEC informed Exxon that it was looking into how the company calculated the costs that would be associated with climate change, including the cost of future regulations if government regulators became more active. ExxonMobil said it was confident in its actions and it would cooperate fully with the investigation.
On August 3rd, it was reported that the SEC had informed ExxonMobil that the inquiry was being ended without any enforcement actions being recommended. That is good news for the oil and gas industry overall, as one company or even one industry should probably not be blamed for a global problem.
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