![]() Woods condemned McCoy's comments after the video was circulated. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and other lawmakers. He also boasted about his influence over Sen. McCoy talked about efforts to undermine any move to introduce a carbon tax and other regulations. They knew things and they lied about it and they continue to deceive," Khanna said.ĭemocrats also pressed ExxonMobil's Woods about comments from a lobbyist for the company, Keith McCoy, made to undercover activists that Greenpeace released this summer. "What they're doing in expanding oil development is totally inconsistent with what they're claiming they're going to do. ![]() Khanna said the committee has other public records and research that can help lay out the industry's record.Īnd he adds that he wants to press the executives on public campaigns indicating they are taking steps to use cleaner technologies while they are still pushing for leases to expand drilling. What Democratic lawmakers want to uncover in this investigation is how the industry spent money on lobbyists and public relations efforts to influence lawmakers and the public by sowing doubts about climate science and the consequences of climate change. Casey Norton, spokesperson for ExxonMobil, said they've been communicating with committee staff "for months and have cooperated with the request for documents." climate policyĪt least one company pushed back on that assertion. "They have provided documents but they're not the documents we requested."Ĭlimate How decades of disinformation about fossil fuels halted U.S. Maloney and Khanna sent letters to all the oil companies and business organizations in September seeking information about marketing, lobbying, communications and research efforts related to climate policy. The executives also made the case throughout the day that they support measures like the Paris Agreement but the report found that almost "none of Big Oil's lobbying on legislation since 2015 was devoted to the Paris Agreement or related legislation." Democrats focused on climate disinformation House Democrats cited a report released Thursday morning showing that the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon, BP, Chevron and Shell spent $452.6 million on lobbying the federal government since 2011. Watkins of Shell said she would "continue spending money on climate policy advocacy" but also side-stepped. Lawler from BP said that his company had stopped "all reputational advertising" but side-stepped the pledge. Maloney also asked the executives if they would pledge to stop spending money to oppose efforts that would reduce emissions. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who chairs the environment subcommittee, asked if the CEOs would ask API's Sommers if his organization would stop running ads attacking the methane tax and electric cars. Witnesses appear via videoconference during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. Thursday's hearing was also part of the committee's investigation into what Maloney called the industry's decades-long "climate disinformation" efforts about the impact of fossil fuels on global warming. James Comer, R-Ky., the top Republican on the panel, objected to the idea. Maloney ended Thursday's hearing by saying that she had subpoenas at hand for the executives after she said they failed to comply with a request for documents that could show where and how the companies are spending their money on ads and lobbying. During that hearing the witnesses argued smoking wasn't addictive, but admitted publicly the harmful health effects of nicotine. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the oversight committee, compared the hearing to the one in 1994 when the CEOs of all the large tobacco companies appeared under oath and answered questions about industry practices. ![]() It's the first time all were testifying together. There were tense moments in a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday, where executives from the world's biggest oil and gas companies took questions about their role in the climate crisis. Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.
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