Exxon Mobil Uses Dark Money and Deception to Undermine Biden’s Climate Plan

Exxon Mobil funneled money to US Senators of both parties, as shown in an undercover video Greenpeace UK released on YouTube, to help the oil and gas companies undermine the climate proposal included in President Biden’s sweeping infrastructure bill.

At the same time, Exxon was pretending to support climate solutions.

These are the 11 U.S. Senators called out in an undercover video. • Joe Manchin (D-WV) • Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) • Jon Tester (D-MT) • Maggie Hassan (D-NH) • Chris Coons (D-DE) • Mark Kelly (D-AZ) • Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) • John Barrasso (R-WY) • John Cornyn (R-TX) • Steve Daines (R-MT) • Marco Rubio (R-FL)

The remarks of Exxon Mobil’s senior director for federal relations, Keith McCoy, were covertly taped by Greenpeace UK’s investigative team, Unearthed, and shared with British news program Channel 4 News.

Unearthed reporters posed as oil lobbyists in a sting that tricked McCoy into thinking he was at a job interview.

Federal Election Commission data show that all Senators listed — except for Arizona’s Mark Kelly and New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan — got money from ExxonMobil.  Both Senators are up for reelection next year.

Unearthed reported McCoy told his presumed job interviewers about lobbying strategies that include working with “shadow groups.”

“Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that’s true. But there’s nothing—there’s nothing illegal about that,” McCoy stated.

“We’re playing defense because President Biden is talking about this big infrastructure package, and he’s going to pay for it by increasing corporate taxes.

“Why would you put in something on emissions reductions on climate change to oil refineries in a highway bill?”

It’s the Manchins, the Sinemas, the Testers

In a damning series of quotes, McCoy said:

“Joe Manchin, I talk to his office every week, and he is the kingmaker on this because he’s a Democrat from West Virginia, which is a very conservative state.”

“…. On the Democrat side, we look for the moderates on these issues. So, it’s the Manchins. It’s the Sinemas. It’s the Testers.”

McCoy disclosed that ExxonMobil publicly endorsed a carbon tax to appear progressive. But, in reality, the company opposes the tax.

“I will tell you, there is not an appetite for a carbon tax,” McCoy said.

“It is a non-starter. Nobody is going to propose a tax on all Americans. And the cynical side of me says, ‘Yeah, we kind of know that.”

“But it gives us a talking point. We can say, ‘Well, what is ExxonMobil for? Well, we’re for a carbon tax.”

“We were looking out for our investments. We were looking out for our shareholders,” McCoy candidly admitted on camera.

After McCoy’s comments were played on YouTube, he said, “I am deeply embarrassed by my comments and that I allowed myself to fall for Greenpeace’s deception. My statements clearly do not represent ExxonMobil’s position on important public policy issues.”

Aides to the Democratic Senators —excluding Manchin– say they never met with McCoy or any Exxon officials concerning the infrastructure negotiations.

Senators Coons and Hassan also said that they support President Biden’s efforts to enact climate legislation.

Plan to Subpoena Fossil Fuel CEOs

Congressmember Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Environment, plans to subpoena CEO’s of Exxon, Chevron, and other fossil fuel heavyweights about their use of dark money and disinformation to undermine President Biden’s climate plan

“The video was appalling,” Khanna said. The hearing is expected to be held in the fall.

Khanna said gas executives had snubbed requests to appear before Congress, unlike representatives from other industries, including financial and pharmaceutical executives.

Khanna told Politico: “It is a major problem. One of the reasons we haven’t had action is that we don’t have a common source of facts.

“Until we solve the climate disinformation issue or at least mitigate the issue, it becomes very hard to build a broad-based political consensus that is needed to take the kind of bold steps that are needed to tackle the crisis.”

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods stated his employees do not represent Exxon Mobil’s position on global warming.

Burn the Planet to the Ground

Opponents paint a different picture. Fossil Free media director Jamie Henn told Common Dreams:

“I think they’re especially freaked out about the leaked tape because it cuts at the core of their entire political strategy: avoiding regulation by pretending to support climate solutions.”

“The argument that they deserve a seat at the table because they support a carbon tax has been blown to smithereens.

“The video confirms what we’ve argued all along: Exxon is trying to burn the table, and the entire planet, down to the ground.”

Ignore Deceptive Practices

Climate activists say Exxon and the oil and gas behemoths haven’t changed, despite its promise to place climate activists on its Board.

“Now people know exactly what is happening behind the scenes,” said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power.

She asked Senators to ignore the industry’s “deceptive practices and get to work on a strong reconciliation package that delivers on Biden’s promise of 100 percent clean electricity and reducing pollution.”

Democrats have hammered out a $3.5 trillion budget plan, including plans to pump money into climate change and expand Medicare that they plan to introduce alongside the infrastructure deal.

However, it’s far from certain whether the bill will pass muster with Manchin and Sinema or gain bipartisan support.