COALITION LAUNCHES LANDMARK CAMPAIGN: "EXXPOSEEXXON.COM"




Environmental and Public Interest Groups to Expose the Truth about ExxonMobil's Environmental Policies

WASHINGTON (July 12, 2005) -- Exposing and changing ExxonMobil's irresponsible and deceptive behavior is the mission of a new campaign called "ExxposeExxon.com," launched outside ExxonMobil service stations nationwide today by a coalition of twelve of America's largest public interest and environmental groups with a combined membership of more than 6.4 million.

ExxposeExxon.com will reveal the truth about the world's largest and most profitable oil company's actions, including actively lobbying Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, trying to avoid paying all the damages due to those harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and funding organizations that work to discredit the science behind global warming.

"For years, ExxonMobil has intentionally put its own profits above a clean environment and the health of America's families. As a result, we are asking all Americans not to accept a new job at ExxonMobil, invest in the company, or to buy ExxonMobil's gas and products," stated the ExxposeExxon coalition in a letter sent today to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond.

Americans want clean sources of energy that protect public health, reduce pollution, curb global warming, and save consumers money. Instead, ExxonMobil has continually worked to make the U.S. more dependent on oil and failed to invest a significant sum of its considerable profits into clean sources of energy, unlike competitors such as BP and Shell.

As part of the campaign, the coalition of groups will reach out to Americans across the country and ask them to help "Exxpose Exxon" by refusing to work for ExxonMobil, refusing to invest their hard-earned dollars in ExxonMobil, and refusing to buy ExxonMobil products. The ExxposeExxon campaign is launching this effort today in more than fifty cities from coast to coast, including Washington, DC, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Des Moines, Honolulu, New York, Minneapolis and Philadelphia. The coalition will reach out to the public through the Internet, through the news media, through door-to-door contact, bumper stickers and t-shirts.

As part of its education effort, the ExxposeExxon campaign, which includes the Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), today also released a new report, "ExxonMobil Exposed: More Drilling, More Global Warming, More Oil Dependence," (664 k pdf). The report details how the Texas-based oil giant has consistently moved the U.S. backward, not forward, on energy policy. Among the report's findings are:

  • ExxonMobil is the only oil company remaining in Arctic Power, the single-issue group lobbying to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling.

  • Between 1998 and 2004, ExxonMobil gave more than $15 million to organizations working to hide the facts about global warming.

  • As increased demand for dwindling world oil and gas supplies earned ExxonMobil a record-breaking $25.3 billion in net income in 2004, company executives dismissed suggestions that they invest in renewable energy, calling it "uneconomic."

  • While ExxonMobil has pledged $100 million over 10 years for research at Stanford University into new energy technologies, such as burying carbon dioxide emissions, the company's commitment is just two days worth of its 2004 profits and is dwarfed by its spending on oil and gas exploration in 2004 alone-more than $1 billion. In addition, the Stanford project has no goals and no guarantee that ExxonMobil will apply any of the technology it helps develop.

"Our nation can chart a course towards a cleaner, healthier energy future by harnessing the American ingenuity that has marked this country throughout its history. ExxonMobil can be a part of that solution or continue to fight it tooth and nail," stated the coalition's letter to Mr. Raymond.

The ExxposeExxon campaign is reaching out to the American public, calling on ExxonMobil to:

  • Protect, instead of drill, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and drop out of Arctic Power.

  • Support mandatory caps on global warming pollution and stop funding junk science to cloud the debate on global warming.

  • Save consumers money at the pump and ease our oil dependence by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency and supporting fuel efficiency.

  • Pay all of the punitive damages awarded to fishermen and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

"Thanks to ExxonMobil's refusal to pay the $4.5 billion dollars in court-ordered punitive damages to victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, thousands of fishing industry workers like me were forced out of the business or in a number of cases had to declare bankruptcy," said Ross Mullins, founder and chairman of the Prince William Sound Fishermen Plaintiffs' Committee.

ExxposeExxon.com campaign national endorsers: Alaska Coalition, Alaska Oceans Program, Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, MoveOn.org Political Action, National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.