In a memo, the committee said the internal company documents it had received via subpoena “demonstrate how the fossil fuel industry ‘greenwashed’ its public image with promises and actions that oil and gas executives knew would not meaningfully reduce emissions, even as the industry moved aggressively to lock in continued fossil fuel production for decades to come—actions that could doom global efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change.”
Maloney and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the head of the environment subcommittee, held multiple hearings, including one featuring the CEOs of Exxon and Chevron and the heads of European firms Shell and BP’s U.S. operations. The hearings aimed to illustrate the industry’s business practices and use of public relations firms to paint themselves as major players in the clean energy transition.
A spokesperson for Exxon blasted the committee’s release as cherry picking internal documents to cast the industry is a poor light.
“The House Oversight Committee report has sought to misrepresent ExxonMobil’s position on climate science, and its support for effective policy solutions, by recasting well intended, internal policy debates as an attempted company disinformation campaign,” company spokesperson Todd Spitler said in an email. “If specific members of the committee are so certain they’re right, why did they have to take so many things out of context to prove their point?”
Chevron and BP did not offer immediate comment.
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wazup.