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Response To Boycott Call
Posted: 18 July 2005
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
ExxonMobil is a member of Arctic Power, and supports environmentally responsible development within the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). We believe that with more than 30 years of industry experience on Alaska 's North Slope and with recent technological advancements, ANWR can be developed with little threat to the ecology of the Coastal Plain.
At this time, ExxonMobil has no rights to acquire any property in the Coastal Plain, and critical data, such as seismic, is virtually nonexistent, making a meaningful interpretation and forecast of resources difficult. Nevertheless, since energy sources are critically important to energy security and to support US economic growth, development of this area could contribute to domestic oil production and to a reduction of US dependence on foreign oil for many years.
Global Warming Research and Actions
ExxonMobil recognizes the risk of climate change and its potential impact on societies and ecosystems, and we continue to take actions and work with others to address that risk.
Our actions include investments and strategic planning that address emissions today, as well as industry-leading research on technologies with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future. Relative to 1999, our energy saving initiatives have had a greenhouse gas effect equivalent to removing over 1 million US cars from the road. This represents avoiding nearly 10 million tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions. We continue to invest in new technologies and establish new processes that reduce emissions. We are, for example, a leader in cogeneration, which allows us to make our own electricity and steam to power our operations. This is up to twice as efficient as separate conventional power generation units.
Regarding funding research, ExxonMobil is a leader in the private sector when it comes to funding climate research programs at top research institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie-Mellon University, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Stanford Energy Modeling Forum, the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Pr ogram, Pr inceton University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Hadley Centre for Climate Pr ediction.
Investment in 'Clean' Energy Solutions
Within our own business, we have been deeply involved in the development of clean fuels processing technology and work extensively with vehicle manufacturers on advanced engine and fuel systems that can increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Indeed, we recently received an award for our work in this area. In addition, we are researching novel hydrogen production technology that could be used in a variety of applications, large and small.
In 2002, we announced an investment of $100 million over 10 years in Stanford University 's Global Climate and Energy Pr oject (GCEP). This project unites the scientific and engineering community with private industry from around the world in search of new, commercially viable technologies that can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. GCEP is researching a broad portfolio of areas including energy infrastructure; advanced transportation; carbon dioxide sequestration, separation and storage; hydrogen; and next generation coal, nuclear and renewable energy. ExxonMobil's investment is the largest ever investment in independent climate and energy research. You can read more about GCEP on Stanford's site at http://gcep.stanford.edu.
Exxon Valdez
The Valdez oil spill in 1989 was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. The company took immediate responsibility for the spill, cleaned it up and voluntarily compensated those who claimed direct damages.
An Alaska jury set the actual damages of the Valdez accident at $287 million. ExxonMobil immediately and voluntarily paid more than $300 million to all those affected by the spill and the trial court in Anchorage commended us for acting so quickly. In addition, ExxonMobil spent $2.2 billion on the spill cleanup, continuing the effort from 1989 until 1992, when both the State of Alaska and the U.S. Coast Guard declared the cleanup complete.
With regard to the Valdez punitive damages, the award has twice been thrown out by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is a strong indication that there is a sound basis to ExxonMobil's arguments that the amount of punitive damages is excessive.
Political Contributions
The sponsors of the boycott say that ExxonMobil is a major contributor to presidential campaigns and that their own efforts to lobby in Washington are dwarfed by the money we contribute to political candidates. The facts simply do not support their claims. Firstly, Exxon Mobil Corporation did not contribute to any federal candidate according to applicable law. It is interesting however, that in the last election cycle the ExxonMobil Political Action Committee (PAC) ranked #204 ($861,000) in contributions to political candidates, while two of the boycott's leading sponsors contributed more. According to PoliticalMoneyLine.com, The Sierra Club PAC ranked above the ExxonMobil PAC at #199 ($882,000) and the MoveOn.org PAC ranked #4 overall with political contributions in excess of $30 million.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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