House Oversight Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., says oil companies who’ve mentioned they’re working to make use of greener applied sciences have additionally disseminated misinformation about climate change.
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House Oversight Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., says oil companies who’ve mentioned they’re working to make use of greener applied sciences have additionally disseminated misinformation about climate change.
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The House Oversight Committee will hear from chief executives of 4 international oil companies on Thursday as a part of its investigation into what Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., referred to as the trade’s decades-long “climate disinformation” efforts concerning the influence of fossil fuels on international warming.
The CEOs — Darren Woods of ExxonMobil, David Lawler of BP America, Michael Wirth of Chevron, Gretchen Watkins of Shell — in addition to Mike Sommers from the American Petroleum Institute, the trade’s commerce affiliation, and Suzanne Clark from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will seem.
It’s the primary time all are testifying collectively. Maloney, who chairs the oversight committee, in contrast the listening to to the one in 1994 when the CEOs of all the big tobacco companies appeared beneath oath and answered questions on trade practices. During that listening to the witnesses argued smoking wasn’t addictive, however admitted publicly the dangerous well being results of nicotine.
“It’s time for the American people to hear directly from the top fossil fuel executives about how they manufactured and concealed a global emergency while reaping trillions in corporate profit,” Maloney informed NPR.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who chairs the setting subcommittee, cited the identical comparability in an interview with NPR, saying, “it’s going to be the big tobacco moment for oil.”
But in contrast to the tobacco listening to, there will probably be no tv second of all 4 CEOs sitting on the identical desk and being sworn in with lawmakers urgent them from the dais. The witnesses are all showing remotely — a dynamic as a result of ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats plan to concentrate on climate disinformation
Maloney and Khanna sent letters to all of the oil companies and enterprise organizations in September searching for details about advertising, lobbying, communications and analysis efforts associated to climate coverage. But Maloney mentioned they haven’t complied. “They have provided documents but they’re not the documents we requested.”
What Democratic lawmakers wish to uncover in this investigation is how the trade spent cash on lobbyists and public relations efforts to influence lawmakers and the public by sowing doubts about climate science and the implications of climate change.
Khanna mentioned the committee has different public information and analysis that may assist lay out the trade’s report.
And he provides that he desires to press the executives on public campaigns indicating they’re taking steps to make use of cleaner applied sciences whereas they’re nonetheless pushing for leases to develop drilling.
“What they’re doing in expanding oil development is totally inconsistent with what they’re claiming they’re going to do. And the hearing will expose both. They knew things and they lied about it and they continue to deceive,” Khanna mentioned.
Democrats are additionally prone to press ExxonMobil’s Woods about comments from a lobbyist for the corporate, Keith McCoy, made to undercover activists that Greenpeace launched this summer season. McCoy talked about efforts to undermine any transfer to introduce a carbon tax and different rules. He additionally boasted about his affect over Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and different lawmakers. Woods condemned McCoy’s feedback after the video was circulated. Woods additionally reiterated the corporate’s help for the objectives in the Paris climate accord.
The high Republican on the panel, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., objected to the listening to, arguing the panel is ignoring different urgent points like immigration enforcement on the U.S. Southwest border or the president’s resolution to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He prompt Cabinet officers must be requested to look, not oil firm CEOs.
In his opening assertion shared with NPR, Comer is blunt about why Democrats have referred to as the listening to.
“The purpose of this hearing is clear: to deliver partisan theater for primetime news,” Comer will say, in line with his ready remarks.
As for the Greenpeace video, Comer plans to say McCoy’s feedback have been “deceptively edited.”
Will Democrats have the ability to ship on climate?
The listening to comes as Democratic leaders in Congress are scuffling with intraparty divisions about policies to incorporate in a broad home spending invoice to fight climate change. President Biden and most Democrats pushed what’s referred to as the Clean Energy Performance Program to offer utility companies incentives for switching to greener applied sciences and impose charges for those who failed to scale back emission targets.
Opposition from Manchin compelled leaders to scuttle that method, and they’re engaged on a brand new mixture of tax incentives and analysis and improvement grants to attempt to meet the president’s goal to chop greenhouse emissions by 50% by 2030.
The president, in addition to a congressional delegation, are headed to a climate summit in Scotland this weekend, and lots of hope there’ll a minimum of be an settlement on a framework on the climate packages to debate, even when there isn’t a vote on any package deal.
Maloney indicated that there could be extra hearings on the difficulty, and that she hoped the companies would “work with us and come clean.”
“Our committee members will not be satisfied with the executives paying lip service to renewable energy and climate change measures while they’re investing in fossil fuels and signing contracts well into the future,” she mentioned.
NPR’s Barbara Sprunt contributed to this story.