Exxon changes its tune on climate change
Sat 10 January 2009
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Exxon, the World's biggest oil company, has indicated its support for a carbon tax in what appears to be an about-turn in the company's approach to climate change. For a long time, Exxon has been known for its sceptical stance to the science of climate change.
The Independent speculates, however, that supportive remarks by Exxon's CEO Rex Tillerson may be an exercise in 'realpolitik' as the company adjusts to the arrival of the new Obama administration in Washington.
Tillerson's call also met with a sceptical response from environmentalists, who saw it as an attempt to block a movement for an outright carbon cap. The Exxon boss's comments were made in a speech to the Woodrow Wilson Center.
They may be intended to move the company to the centre of the debate about global warming ahead of the Copenhagen conference on climate change later this year.
Exxon has come under increasing pressure to modify its environmental stance in recent times. Protests culminated in a shareholder revolt last year led by members of the founding Rockefeller family.
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