ExxonMobil CEO blames climate crisis on the public, stirring outrage
“It’s like a drug lord blaming everyone but himself for drug problems,” says one economist.
The world is off track to meet its climate goals and the public is to blame, Darren Woods, chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil, has claimed—prompting a backlash from climate experts.
As the world’s largest investor-owned oil company, Exxon is among the top contributors to global planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions. But in an interview, published on Tuesday, Woods argued that big oil is not primarily responsible for the climate crisis.
The real issue, Woods said, is that the clean-energy transition may prove too expensive for consumers’ liking.
“The dirty secret nobody talks about is how much all this is going to cost and who’s willing to pay for it,” he told Fortune last week. “The people who are generating those emissions need to be aware of and pay the price for generating those emissions. That is ultimately how you solve the problem.”
Woods said the world was “not on the path” to cut its planet-heating emissions to net zero by 2050, which scientists say is imperative to avoid catastrophic impacts of global heating. “When are people going to willing to pay for carbon reduction?” said Woods, who has been Exxon’s chief executive since 2017.
“We have opportunities to make fuels with lower carbon in it, but people aren’t willing to spend the money to do that.”
Experts say Woods’ rhetoric is part of a larger attempt to skirt climate accountability. No new major oil and gas infrastructure can be built if the world is to avoid breaching agreed temperature limits but Exxon, along with other major oil companies currently basking in record profits, is pushing ahead with aggressive fossil-fuel expansion plans.
“Guys it’s not my fault pinky promise”
What an asshole this guy is. Fuck off with your gaslighting Darren Woods.
In a way, he's right. You can't expect a trillion dollar private company to do anything but maximize profits any way they can get away with. It's in the interest of the public to overthrow capitalism and the responsibility falls on us to understand this and do this. ExxonMobil exists with the consent of the masses.
For most of the 140 years Exxon exists it was not the willful ignorance of the consumers but the deception, propaganda, lies and lobbying they made. While we are to blame for not overthrowing capitalism, companies are to blame for their malicious actions. If they just sold their product without mentioning the known problems I would agree.
The animal industry is responsible for 20% of the GHG and even though we are in the chains of capitalism we have the choice to not support them, do they exist with your consent?
The animal industries have their own lobbying and disinformation campaigns. The pro-corporate media environment is an inextricable part of capitalist society. Their CEOs and those of Exxon et al are all basically saying "we're doing what we're permitted to do, it's your job to reign us in for any social good whatsoever". Any rational actor in a society that permits this will do this if given the opportunity. They're products of their environment. Sometimes they'll get ratioed on X, and agree to some small concession, a mere unconscious twitch of the power of the people causing multibillion $ companies to yelp in terror.
In the book The Ministry for the Future, there is a proposed solution for things like this. I’m sure you can guess what it is.
Everyone should read The Ministry for the Future.
The real issue, Woods said, is that the clean-energy transition may prove too expensive for consumers’ liking.
This is a guy who has never not been able to afford something.