July 24, 2017
One would be
excused for poo-pooing the following story. Back in 2015 it was revealed that in
even further back in 1977 Exxon knew full well that 1) there was a serious problem,
2) they were part of it, and 3) they wanted to make damn sure that no one found
out what they knew. At a July 1977 meeting at corporate headquarters, James F.
Black, a senior Exxon scientist addressed a roomful of Exxon’s top oilmen. Black
told them, "In the first place, there is general scientific agreement that
the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is
through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels." For some
reason, this episode escaped me. Or maybe I just forgot about it. Or maybe
there is another, more credible reason.
Maybe the scum-sucking,
Earth-hating, people-eating megacorporation buried their in-house research
proving that the climate was changing and that human activity was contributing.
Did I mention that this was in 1977? In 1978, Black shared his concerns with a
broader Exxon audience. Black warned that, "Present thinking holds that
man has a time window of five to ten years before the need for hard decisions
regarding changes in energy strategies might become critical." I know, you
are probably thinking – how could a total disregard for the global environment
coupled with unrestricted burning of fossil fuels, conscience-free discarding
of all manner of refuse and a level of greed almost as vast as the Earth itself.
Now we are
reminded that Exxon’s unconditional disregard for the environment branched out
to include corporate-sized disregard for the law. I know, what a surprise.
Exxon did business with a Russian oil magnate, in defiance of sanctions put in
place by Barack Obama’s in 2014, in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. At
that time a man named Wrecks Tillerson was CEO of Exxon. A lot of people do not
know this, but Tillerson – who is also quite chummy with Vladimir Putin – is
currently Secretary of State. Exxon is in turn, suing the government over the crushing
$2M fine. A monetary punishment of this magnitude could amount to the loss of
profits from almost an entire hour’s worth of the wanton environmental devastation
Exxon calls doing business. They will probably spend more than $2M on lawyers’
fees. But, you know for Exxon, it is the principle that matters most. Thank
goodness for the rule of law and American justice. How will the giant
corporation – that lied for decades about the threat of man-(well, Exxon)-made
global warming, and receives billions in federal subsidies (i.e., welfare) –
survive such a devastating financial paper cut?
“Okay, but no
tongues…this time.”
Tillerson,
while at Exxon, took a page out of Dick Cheney’s playbook. A lot of people don’t
know that the ex-Secretary of State and then-CEO/future vice president’s
Halliburton once flouted the very same laws by doing business with Iran while
that country was under sanctions. God bless Haliburton. God bless Exxon. God
apparently is too busy to bless America. Nevertheless, America will be great again. With or without God’s
blessing. Just you wait and see. We have the hat to prove it.
Speaking of
making America great again (a phrase first uttered by none other than
Ronald Reagan and then invented almost 40 years later by Chrump), we here at Paying Attention have just started a pool for when
that will happen. I am going with April 1, 2025. You can bank on that. Believe
me. Best America ever.
I. Mangrey
reporting.
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