Exxon lobbyist said carbon tax is "not going to happen"

Exxon Mobil is on the defensive after a lobbyist's description of the energy giant's activities, captured on covertly recorded video, created a public uproar and drew condemnation from lawmakers.

Video clips released by Greenpeace U.K. last week show a gaping chasm between the oil giant's stated support for reducing the use of fossil fuels and its lobbyist's private statements about the company's efforts to water down climate-change legislation.


The clips, which prompted a rare apology from the company's CEO, offer a preview of the rocky road ahead for Exxon. The company, once the world's most valuable enterprise in the world, has lost billions on its oil and gas investments, and faces scrutiny from lawmakers and pressure from climate hawks on its board.

Reporters for Unearthed, the journalism arm of Greenpeace U.K., posed as headhunters for an energy client in order to interview two Exxon lobbyists about their work.

In the videos, one lobbyist described the company's public push for a carbon tax as simply a "talking point." The lobbyist also took credit for sowing doubt on the science behind climate change and for watering down legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions while raising corporate taxes. 

Another Exxon lobbyist, who has since left the company, crowed about the company's legislative "wins" during the Trump administration and said it saved "billions" after corporate tax rates were cut in 2018.

"Nobody is going to propose a tax on all Americans, and the cynical side of me says, yeah we kind of know that. But it gives us a talking point that we can say, well, what is ExxonMobil for? Well, we're for a carbon tax," Keith McCoy, a senior director for federal relations at Exxon, said in one video clip.

Pressed by the interviewer, he said: "No … a carbon tax is not going to happen."

"It's an easy talking point to say, I'm for a carbon tax. That's a talking point. That is, in my mind, an effective advocacy tool."

McCoy also referenced Exxon's attempts to discredit scientific evidence that burning coal, oil and gas causes global warming. 

"Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes. Did we hide our science, absolutely not. Did we join some of these 'shadow groups' to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that's true. But there's nothing illegal about that. You know, we were looking out for our investments. We were looking out for our shareholders," he said.

A tally from the Union of Concerned Scientists has found that Exxon has given at least $30 million to various advocacy groups over the years. The recipients, such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the Heartland Institute and the Heritage Foundation, promote the use of fossil fuels and deny climate science, as well as advocate against government regulation of businesses.