Earth Equity News

Exxon Mobil Asks for Carbon Tax. By Andrew Clark, Guardian (UK), January 9, 2009. "The world's biggest oil company, Exxon Mobil, softened its hardline position on climate change by throwing its weight behind a tax on carbon emissions. In a significant shift in stance, Exxon's chief executive, Rex Tillerson, told an audience in Washington that he considered a tax to be a fairer route to curbing emissions than a cap-and-trade system of pollution allocations. 'As a businessman it is hard to speak favourably about any new tax,' said Tillerson. 'But a carbon tax strikes me as a more direct, a more transparent and a more effective approach.' Until recently, Exxon was reluctant even to concede that greenhouse gas emissions were responsible for global warming... Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said: 'I suppose for Exxon Mobil you might say it's a step in the right direction but I have to question their motive here.' She pointed out that Congress, Barack Obama and 24 US states were working on cap-and-trade schemes. 'You have to wond er whether this suggestion of a tax is meant to roil the water to slow down cap-and-trade.'"