Will Exxon Be Held Accountable

Senate Hearings: Will Exxon Be Held Accountable?

Dear Friends of the Heart,

ExxonMobil reported a record- breaking $9.9 billion in profits last quarter alone. Yet Exxon spends its profits both bankrolling Republicans who protect their interests and fighting all steps towards energy independence.

Can you sign the petition to ExxonMobil and tell them you're going to hold them accountable until they change?

During last week's hearings on recent record high oil industry profits, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told the oil executives, "People are concerned about fairness and justice at a time of sacrifice. Your sacrifice appears to be nothing."1
ExxonMobil just reported the largest quarterly profits—$9.9 billion—of any American corporation in history.2 ExxonMobil spends its record profits fighting virtually all meaningful efforts towards ending our dependence on oil.

That's why we're working with a large coalition of public interest and environmental groups to call on Exxon to start investing its profits in real solutions to our energy crisis. Can you sign the petition to ExxonMobil and tell them you're not going to buy their gas, work for them, or invest in their company until they change? We'll send the petition to Exxon and to Congress. The coalition already has over 200,000 signatures, and we're aiming for 100,000 more immediately to respond to the hearings last week.

Sign the Petition

The only answer to the current energy crisis is energy independence. That's something we'll be working on together in the next few weeks—one of the big positive things progressives stand for. And we're starting with ExxonMobil, the biggest obstacle in the way.

Exxon owes much of its lobbying success to close ties to Republican leaders. Over the last decade, Exxon has given more than $5.2 million to Republicans, while giving less than $650,000 to Democrats.3 This year, 91% of Exxon's political contributions have gone to Republicans.4 In turn, Republican energy policy has amounted to a series of massive handouts to the oil industry. Even now, with Republicans grandstanding with show hearings on television, they refused to make the oil executives testify under oath.5 Together with the coalition, we'll deliver your petition signature to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, and we'll send a copy to Congress to help break Exxon's stranglehold on our government.

There are four main areas in which Exxon needs drastic change:6

Invest in clean energy: With gas prices near $3 a gallon, it's outrageous to watch ExxonMobil rake in record profits while refusing to support greater fuel economy or invest significant amounts in cleaner, healthier energy.

Stop pushing to drill in the Arctic: ExxonMobil is the only oil company that remains part of Arctic Power, the group lobbying Congress to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Congress will cast the final vote on drilling in the Arctic shortly.

Stop fighting efforts to prevent global warming: ExxonMobil has spent over $15 million since 1998 to deny the existence of global warming by funding junk science groups to cloud the debate. The company lobbies against efforts to fight global warming even as it alone is responsible for 5% of the world's output of the main type of global warming pollution.

Pay damages to the victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: Remember the Exxon Valdez tragedy? Exxon's tanker killed hundreds of thousands of seals, otters, birds, fish and whales when it spilled 11 million gallons of thick, deadly crude oil into the waters of Alaska's pristine Prince William Sound. Yet despite making a record profit of $25 billion last year, ExxonMobil is still shirking payment of the full amount it owes fishermen and natives hurt by the spill 16 years ago!

The Exxpose Exxon campaign includes a dozen leading environmental and public interest groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), True Majority, the Alaska Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife, and more. By signing this petition you'll be joining hundreds of thousands of Americans working to expose one of the largest and most powerful oil giants in the world and their protectors in Congress.

Sign the Petition

Thanks for all you do,

–Adam, Nita, James, Matt and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Monday, November 14th, 2005

SOURCES :

You can learn much more about ExxonMobil and the campaign at http://www.ExxposeExxon.com. It is also featured in a recent New York Times article about the hearings:
"Senators Grill Oil Executives on Profits and Prices"

1. "In heated hearings, oil bosses defend big profits," MSNBC, November 9, 2005

2. "Exxon profits hit fresh US record," BBC News, October 27, 2005

3. "Business sees Gains in GOP Takeover," Washington Post, March 27, 2005

4. "No Disruption In Flow Of Oil Company PAC $," Political Moneyline, November 8, 2005

5."Big oil CEOs under fire in Congress," CNNMoney, November 9, 2005

6. This section is from http://www.exxposeexxon.com/facts and the 5% figure is from the Friends of the Earth report

7. "House Shelves Alaska Drilling in Budget Fight," New York Times, November 10, 2005

"Stand Up and Fight" award

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) found a clever way to highlight problems in the Republicans' budget: he filed an amendment to change the official name of the bill to the "Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act."

Tell him thanks.