Economics
Exxon Enters No Man's Land
Slowly, in fits and starts, Exxon's investors are pushing it to take better account of climate-change risks.
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At ExxonMobil's annual shareholders meeting in May, Rex Tillerson, the silver-haired chief executive officer and chairman of the biggest oil company in the world, did something he hadn't before in his last 10 such presentations: He addressed climate change head-on.
For several minutes, he talked about Exxon's investments in biofuel and carbon-capture technologies, its efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 8.8 million tons since 2011, equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road, and how its scientists have spent decades studying climate change, a risk he said "warrants thoughtful action."