Exxon's CEO is happy to lay the blame for global heating on consumers — while his company enjoys record profits from climate-wrecking fossil fuels, and also rakes in obscene amounts of government subsidies.
HEADLINE: "Exxon CEO blames public for failure to fix climate change"
The world isn’t on track to meet its climate goals — and it’s the public’s fault, a leading oil company executive told journalists.
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told editors from Fortune that the world has “waited too long” to begin investing in a broader suite of technologies to slow planetary heating.
That heating is largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and much of the current impacts of that combustion — rising temperatures, extreme weather — were predicted by Exxon scientists almost half a century ago.
Since taking over from former CEO Rex Tillerson, Woods has walked a tightrope between acknowledging the critical problem of climate change — as well as the role of fossil fuels in helping drive it — while insisting fossil fuels must also provide the solution.
For example, Woods said Exxon “could, today, make sustainable aviation fuel for the airline business. But the airline companies can’t afford to pay.”
His comments doubled down on the claim that the energy transition will succeed only when end-users pay the price.
“People who are generating the emissions need to be aware of it and pay the price,” Woods said. “That’s ultimately how you solve the problem.”
The original article in Fortune Magazine openly sympathizes with Exxon. It's a disgusting example of corporate media eagerly supporting Business As Usual.