ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil is the most documented case of corporate climate deception in history. Internal company research dating to the 1970s — revealed by investigative journalists at InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times — showed that Exxon's own scientists accurately predicted global warming decades before it became public knowledge. Rather than act on this research, the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars funding climate denial through think tanks, front groups, and compliant scientists, creating the playbook for climate disinformation that delayed meaningful climate action by decades. The most damaging evidence emerged in 2021 when a Greenpeace undercover investigation captured ExxonMobil lobbyist Keith McCoy on hidden camera, bragging about the company's strategy. McCoy described using "shadow groups" and third-party organizations to fight climate science, named specific senators he considered allies, and admitted the company publicly supported a carbon tax it knew would never pass — using the endorsement as political cover while privately working to ensure it died in Congress. The video was a rare moment of unfiltered honesty about how corporate lobbying actually works. ExxonMobil's political connections extend to the highest levels of government. CEO Rex Tillerson left ExxonMobil to become Trump's first Secretary of State in 2017. Tillerson's appointment put an oil executive in charge of American diplomacy during critical climate negotiations, and he used his position to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. The company has spent over $200 million on lobbying over its career, with $12 million in 2024 alone, targeting energy committee members and candidates who oppose climate regulation. Despite earning $345 billion in revenue and reporting record profits of over $55 billion in 2022 (driven by the energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine), ExxonMobil still receives billions in fossil fuel subsidies — including the Section 199 domestic manufacturing deduction, percentage depletion allowances, and intangible drilling cost write-offs that have been in the tax code for over a century. Every attempt to remove these subsidies has been defeated by the oil industry's lobbying machine. In a remarkable offensive turn, ExxonMobil has begun suing its own shareholders and climate activists. In 2024, the company sued Arjuna Capital and Follow This, two shareholder groups that had filed climate-related proxy resolutions. The lawsuit, seeking to block shareholders from even proposing climate measures at annual meetings, was seen as an escalation in the company's war against climate accountability. ExxonMobil also funded lawsuits against state attorneys general who investigated the company for climate fraud, attempting to turn the legal system into a weapon against its critics. The company's revolving door includes 20 documented connections with government, and its 35 lobbyists target the committees that oversee energy policy, taxation, and environmental regulation. ExxonMobil's PAC donates primarily to Republican candidates, with particular focus on members of the Senate Energy and Finance committees who control fossil fuel tax policy and drilling regulations.