ExxonMobil has announced it will leave the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate lobby group known for its attempts to block climate action. Campaigners cautiously welcomed the decision, though said Exxon had to do more to prove it was committed to addressing climate change.
Exxonโs decision comes after opposition to ALECโs attempt last December to get the Environmental Protection Agency to abandon its position that climate change proposes a risk to human health.
ALEC links corporations to state legislators with the aim of drafting legislation to inhibit or repeal pro-climate policies. The group is bankrolled by the Koch brothers, the USโs leading climate science denial funders. The Nation reports that โno-one knows how much the Kochs have given ALEC in total, but the amount likely exceeds $1 millionโ.
ALEC also has strong support from a US โweb of denialโ in its mission to block climate action, with backing from climate science denial organisations such as the Heartland Institute and Heritage Foundation.
Exxonโs decision to leave ALEC comes after other corporate giants also decided to cut ties with the group, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell Group, and Ford.
The decision to split from ALEC has been cautiously welcomed by environmental organisations as a significant step towards climate action from Big Oil companies.
Ben Ratner, Senior Director of the Environmental Defence Fund, described it in a press release as an โimportant statementโ, since companies โseeking to show corporate social responsibilityโ should โdistance themselves from groups that pursue agendas harmful to public health and the environmentโ.
However, campaigners are asking whether Exxonโs break from ALEC is enough to compensate for decades of effort to stymie climate action.
Fossil Fuel Accountability Campaign Director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, Kathy Mulvey, said in a statement that โthe company has a lot more to do to set things straightโ, since Exxon still gives $1million per year to the US Chamber of Commerce, which โrefused as recently as 2014 to acknowledge that global warming is caused by human activity and funded a 2017 report attacking the Paris climate agreementโ.
Jesse Brag of Corporate Accountability, told DeSmog UK specificially โExxonโs departure from ALEC is a clear indication that the Big Polluter is feeling the heat. Make no mistake, despite what it would have people believe, Exxon isnโt changing, itโs caving. People and environmental groups have for years put pressure on Exxon for itโs use of trade associations like ALEC to do itโs climate denial bidding. Itโs exit from ALEC is a clear indication that not even Exxon, one of the biggest funders of climate denial and corporate polluters in the world, is immune to public pressure.โ
Responding to Exxonโs decision not to renew its membership, ALEC said it โvalues partnership with ExxonMobil and stakeholders across the business community. Organization government relations strategies change over time, and we have valued ExxonMobilโs work and leadership with ALEC on STEM education, among other issues.โ
A report by climate non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2017 put ExxonMobil alongside Saudi Aramco and Russian gas giant Gazprom at the top their list of the worldโs biggest emitters.
Greenpeace has documented how Exxon knew about the harmful effects of fossil fuels as far back as the 1950s, and yet the company has been responsible for pouring as much as $34.6 million into spreading climate science denial.
Over the last few years, ExxonMobil has come under fire numerous times for lobbying in the UK against electric vehicles, funding Congress and corporate lobby groups to deny climate change, and knowingly misleading the public about the reality of the issue.
ExxonMobil has been contacted for comment.
Updated 13/07/18: Jesse Bragg, Corporate Accountability, statement added
Main image credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC BY 2.0
