Lying liars: ExxonMobil tries to polish its image

by Plutonium Page

There are some people you just can't believe, no matter what, because they can't stop lying:

The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda, because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.

-- George W. Bush, June 17, 2004

Liars like to hang out with other liars, which is why Bush and  ExxonMobil are such good pals.  And, just like Bush, since ExxonMobil can't stop lying, and lying, and lying, you can't believe anything they say.

ExxonMobil's latest farce is to try to polish their image and shore up credibility with environmentalists.  Unbelievably, they think that changing their leadership from an unpleasant jackass to a slick, smiling, oily jackass will somehow convince people they've turned over a new leaf.

The New York Times reports:

If Rex W. Tillerson has his way, ExxonMobil will no longer be the oil company that environmentalists love to hate.

Since taking over as Exxon's chairman three months ago from Lee R. Raymond, his abrasive predecessor who dismissed fears of global warming and branded environmental activists "extremists," Mr. Tillerson has gone out of his way to soften Exxon's public stance on climate change.

"We recognize that climate change is a serious issue," Mr. Tillerson said during a 50-minute interview last week, pointing to a recent company report that acknowledged the link between the consumption of fossil fuels and rising global temperatures. "We recognize that greenhouse gas emissions are one of the factors affecting climate change."

[Emphasis mine.]

Wha...?  Does this mean that Exxon astroturf groups will have to re-write all their anti-climate change position papers?

No, wait!  Relax, folks!  Nothing has changed (except the climate). 

The New York Times article continues:

But despite the shift in style to a less adversarial tone, the substance of Exxon's position has not changed with the new chairman. The company said the recent report only clarified its long-held position on global warming. Indeed, Mr. Tillerson noted that he, like Mr. Raymond before him, remained convinced that there was "still significant uncertainty around all of the factors that affect climate change."

Of course.  Perpetuating the "climate change is a hoax" lie, (or "catapulting the propaganda", as Bush would say), is critical for Exxon to maintain that margin over other oil companies that are (supposedly) beginning to apply themselves to alternative energy technologies.  The part I've highlighted in bold says it all, really (again, from the NYT):

In contrast to rivals at BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which plan to invest billions of dollars in the next decade to develop renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, Mr. Tillerson sees Exxon's future as still firmly tied to oil and natural gas.

The answer to today's high prices? "More supplies." President Bush's reference to America's "addiction to oil"? "An unfortunate choice of words." Exxon's role in society? "A good business, and what we do brings good things to people."

Yes, he's slick, and frustratingly stubborn, an attitude representative of the whole company, according to the Greenpeace and Exxpose Exxon representatives quoted in the article.  In other words, when faced with reality:

[Exxon's] access to the world's top hydrocarbon deposits is more limited than ever. At Exxon, the problem is magnified by the company's size. Each year, its geologists must find huge amounts of oil and gas — nearly 1.5 billion barrels — just to replace the company's production of about 4 million barrels a day.

... Exxon just "digs [its] heels in", and sticks with its "what the hell, there's more out there" attitude, planning 22 new projects between now and 2009 (including drilling in Alaska's North Slope).  Even if there is less and less easily accessible oil in the world, if you have enough money, you can certainly get to it, or at least Exxon thinks so.

Finally, speaking of money, the NYT article puzzles over one thing Tillerson brags about:

[Tillerson] defended Exxon's record of investing in research for alternative fuels, citing a 10-year, $100 million contribution to the Global Climate and Energy Project [GCEP] at Stanford, which focuses on long-term technological research. "We are going to continue to use fossil fuels," he said. "We are looking for the fundamental changes, but that's decades away. The question is, What are we going to do in the meantime?"

Well, that's nice, Mr. Tillerman, but some of us are onto you guys.  Is that Exxon astroturf I smell? (GCEP's name sounds nice and "environmental", but they are not doing climate science research.)

So, ExxonMobil may have a new face at the helm, but they are no more environmentally friendly than before.  Just like Dubya, they insist on "staying the course".

And we all know what "staying the course" gets us.

Comments

[Steve]

Did you mean they plan to drill in the North Slope, or in ANWR? Obviously, there's already a ton of drilling at the North Slope.

[Plutonium Page]

Steve,

ANWR.

[the bewilderness]

The first little thing they could do to try to rebuild their cred would be to pay the bill for having paved the Alaska Marine Highway.

[Libby Sosume]

Cross-posted from FDL. (I made this point here a couple or three months ago). Now we learn from Murray Waas that Cheney ordered the leak.

I've been saying for over two years that it was far more likely that Cheney architected the Plame leak than Rove -- even though it is more delicious to imagine "Karl getting frog-marched in handcuffs."

Why? Very simple: You just had to watch his body language during the run-up to the war to see that he evidently believed he had the authority (given by God or Bush, I don't know which) to declassify anything that suited his purpose.

I think most of us got a bit side-tracked by Wilson's intemperate remark and by Rove being our favorite symbol of everything that's evil about the Bush administration. I hate Rove too but let's focus on truth, not truthiness.

The truth is probably this: Cheney is the fascist madman behind almost everything having to do with the GWoT and Iraq. He may also be the one feeding Bush's self-sense of being the Chosen One. Cheney is like the manipulative Cardinal Richelieu behind the King.

Bush is just a plain and simple dumbf**k.