Climate Change
Even as President Trump dismantled Obama-era efforts to tackle climate change, the U.S.’s largest oil company is trying to save the crown jewel of that initiative: the landmark 2015 global climate deal.
The 2015 agreement is “an effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change,” an ExxonMobil executive wrote last week (paywall) in a letter the White House.
Another reason Exxon wants the U.S. to stay the course: the low-carbon transition is good for natural gas, of which Exxon has a lot.
“It is prudent that the United States remain a party to the Paris agreement to ensure a level playing field, so that global energy markets remain as free and competitive as possible,” wrote Exxon’s Peter Trelenberg.
As CEO of Exxon, now-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, acknowledged the risk of climate change and even endorsed a tax on carbon (see, “Could Trump be getting ready to pull a Nixon-to-China on carbon?”). Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis both reportedly favor the Paris accord.
Other Republican climate realists, including former Secretary of State James Baker, former Secretary of State George Shultz and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, are pushing for a $40 per ton tax on carbon.
This post originally appeared in ImpactAlpha’s daily newsletter. Get The Brief.
Photo credit: Reuters
