Getting Big Oil to Behave

Big Oil is going through a rough patch. Prices are low and will remain so. President Obama killed the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. And New York’s attorney general is probing whether ExxonMobil withheld scientific findings that confirmed decades ago that fossil-fuel consumption contributes to global warming. At this tumultuous moment, it’s worth pointing out where symbolism outweighs substance—and shed some light on an industry development that got eclipsed amid all the excitement.

Long an opponent of climate-friendly regulation, Exxon began to soften its line on the underlying science—and even embraced the need, at least in theory, to curb greenhouse gases—when Rex Tillerson succeeded Lee Raymond as chief executive officer in 2006. Nevertheless, the world’s largest energy company continued to funnel millions to climate-denying members of Congress, even after a 2007 pledge to cease contributing to those, in Exxon’s own words, “whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion on how the world will secure energy.” On Nov. 4 it received a subpoena from Eric Schneiderman, New York’s AG. The prosecutor is seeking documents he suspects will show that Exxon deceived investors and the public about what it knew about climate change. (Exxon denies the allegations.) The prosecutor is also seeking a national stage for his climate stance. Schneiderman isn’t talking about the probe, but predictably, others are congratulating him. “I am so proud of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, because he announced that he is going to investigate Exxon,” Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said at a campaign event in New Hampshire.