CEO Darren Woods welcomed 2018 with big plans for ExxonMobil to burn more oil. Outlined in a strategy is a call for 25 new projects capable of increasing production to around 1 million barrels a day.
The report didn’t mention what the company’s drilling boom meant for the planet, but internal documents did. Bloomberg News obtained and exposed the oil giant’s forecast that shows annual emissions rising – thus going against international efforts to slow the pace of warming.
So, not only has Exxon dismissed making efforts to curb its greenhouse gas productions but now it has made plans to increase its carbon pollution as well – from 122 million metric tons (2017) to 143 million metric tons in 2025. That’s equivalent to 17% of its current carbon emissions, or a year’s worth of Greece‘s emissions. It’ll cause the same climate damage as building 26 new coal-fired power plants.
That estimate of a 21-million-ton increase covers only emissions associated with operations. Those emissions are only about 1/5th of the total greenhouse gas pollution that will be produced because the number doesn’t take into account the carbon emitted by people burning Exxon’s fossil fuel products.
Paula DiPerna, a CDP special adviser, said:
I wouldn’t say it’s such a surprise, but it is very disappointing to see a company of this size go against the tide of history and thumb its nose at the science.
Casey Norton, an Exxon spokesman, challenged Bloomberg’s description of the numbers, saying:
They [the numbers] represented a projection of future greenhouse gas levels rather than a plan to increase emissions. Exxon is on track to cut methane emissions 15% of 2016 levels by the end of this year.
The emissions projection you cite is an early assessment that does not include additional mitigation and abatement measures that would have been considered as the next step in the process. The same planning document illustrates how we have been successful in mitigating emissions in the past. As demand returns and capital investments resume, our growth plans will continue to include meaningful emission mitigation efforts.
Resultantly, Exxon was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average earlier this year and faces a dozen lawsuits alleging it knew, withheld, and denied crucial information about the impact of fossil fuel use on global warming.
Unlike many other oil majors who are announcing plans to invest in renewables and cut carbon emissions, Exxon is only building more oil drills in the gulf. Royal Dutch Shell PLC pledged to cut the carbon intensity of its products by 50% by 2050. BP PLC has acquired the solar developer Lightsource Renewable Energy. Shell and BP have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. BP has promised to cut oil production by 40% by 2030.
Mulvey from the Union of Concerned Scientists said:
It’s past time for Exxon Mobil to take responsibility for the harmful impacts of its oil and gas products. The world at large and its own investors would benefit from Exxon redirecting its strategy toward the energy we need in a low-carbon future.
All around the world, countries are pledging to be carbon neutral; even China has promised to do so by 2060. The EU aims to reach the target a decade earlier, and California plans to end sales of petrol-powered cars by 2035. Companies like Exxon are disgracing global efforts to fight climate change.
