A view of the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S., May 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kathleen Flynn/Files
August 6, 2021
(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp was suspended from advocacy group Climate Leadership Council (CLC) that looks to make policies to address climate change, the CLC said on Friday.
The move comes a little over a month after an Exxon lobbyist said the company supports a carbon tax publicly because the plan to curb climate change would never gain enough political support to be adopted. Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods had condemned the comments.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to suspend ExxonMobil’s membership in both the Council and Americans for Carbon Dividends, our advocacy arm,” CLC CEO Greg Bertelsen said in a statement.
Exxon was a founding member of the group along with ConocoPhillips, BP, Shell and Total.
The CLC’s decision marks a u-turn after it supported the oil major in June after the lobbyist’s comments.
Exxon said in a statement the CLC’s decision was “disappointing and counterproductive.”
“It’s more important than ever for organizations to work together to advance meaningful policy solutions to address shared challenges and society’s net-zero ambitions,” it said.
The company said it would continue to be a part of the Alliance for Market Solutions, an organization that also works to try and reduce carbon pollution.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Sahil Shaw in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
