U.S. PIRG's Gene Karpinski

When it comes to holding corporations accountable for bad behavior, it’s almost as if oil companies get a free pass.

After all, the business of drilling, pumping, refining and ultimately burning oil is an inherently dirty one. Of course, it’s going to lead to oil spills, air pollution, global warming and a host of other environmental problems. Yet, upon closer examination, the anti-environmental behavior of one oil company is beyond the pale. Consider:

• Environmental groups have urged the four major oil companies interested in drilling in the Arctic to withdraw from Arctic Power, the main group lobbying for it. BP pulled out nearly two years ago after prodding by our coalition, and we learned earlier this year that both Chevron and ConocoPhillips are also out.

That leaves just one major oil company helping to finance the prodrilling campaign: ExxonMobil.

• BP, Chevron and the other major oil companies acknowledge that global warming is a real and present danger that needs to be addressed. The response from ExxonMobil? Chairman and CEO Lee Raymond has said: “We in ExxonMobil do not believe that the science required to establish this link between fossil fuels and warming has been

• BP and Shell have invested in solar and other forms of renewable energy. In contrast, even though ExxonMobil earned a record-breaking $25.3 billion in net income in 2004, company executives dismissed suggestions that they invest in renewable energy, calling it “uneconomic.”

• Studies show that fishermen and the tourism/recreation industry have not fully recovered from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Yet ExxonMobil is still trying to get out of paying the $4.5 billion dollars in court-ordered punitive damages to those hurt by the spill.

That’s why, on July 12, we joined with 12 other major environmental and public interest groups, including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and Defenders of Wildlife, to, as we put it, Exxpose Exxon. We urged citizens not to buy gas from, invest in or even work for ExxonMobil to push the company to get with the program on these and other issues.

On that day, this coalition of groups sent a letter to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, calling on the company to:

• Protect, instead of drill, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and drop out of Arctic Power.

• Support mandatory caps on global warming pollution and stop funding junk science to cloud the debate on global warming.

• Save consumers money at the pump and ease our oil dependence by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency and supporting stronger fuel economy standards.

• Pay all of the punitive damages awarded to fishermen and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

To launch the campaign, we held more than 50 press conferences outside Exxon and Mobil stations and released a report authored by U.S. PIRG Research Director Alison Cassady.

In the first two weeks, more than 100,000 people sent letters to ExxonMobil’s CEO, urging him to clean up his company’s act. We hope that you’ll join the campaign. To learn more, visit www.savethearctic.com/exxposeexxon.

Gene Karpinski
Executive Director