Big Oil's State of Denial

"They are in the business of supplying oil products."

That won't be so bad if that's all that ExxonMobil does. The thing is, in order to sustain its business model -- which is getting more and more unviable -- it has to continue funding front groups such as the Heritage Institute, the AEI, etc. to pump out eco-inactivist bollocks.

Oh yes, Tillerson tells us that they recently stopped funding _some_ of these front groups. _Some_.

-- bi, http://frankbi.wordpress.com/

bi -- IJI 1:02PM June 03, 2008

Today's WAPO:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/01/AR2008060102582.html

A quote from the article:

"It's 25 minutes to Woodbridge this way; it's an hour and 25 minutes in the regular lanes," said Gonzalez, who had been working since 6 a.m.

This is insanity. HOV's increase demand.

Madan Valluri of CA 9:26AM June 02, 2008

Rockefeller family offers no solutions to our energy issues...XOM's mandate is to find more energy solutions, and provide a return for it's stock holders. The family should sell their XOM, but they can't because most of them are probably living on their XOM dividends. The Congress could be a great help in finding solutions by drilling for more oil and gas [NOW] off shore and in ANWR to provide the energy for our economy. We [XOM] included need to invest in R & D for our future econ-friendly energy sources, and that does NOT include Congressionally subsidized corn ethanol...Congress ought to review Brazil's energy program. XOM will continue investing it's money in successful alternative energy projects, but they are to well run to waste money on subsidized programs i.e. corn ethanol.

Note - American consumer is taking it in the ear with our ethanol fuel....energy produced is less than gas by a wide margin, and costs the same?

Global warming is still being debated...32,000 scientists recently declared that the UN/Gore Global Warming Blame Game is wrong.

FYI - XOM paid $30Billion in taxes in 2007 @ 42% rate....It operated at a after tax profit margin of slightly over 9.5%. Have you ever checked the profit margins on some of your favorite stocks, i.e. technology, tobacco, drugs, internet, etc?

Have you checked out our tax on Brazilian Ethanol? Congress continues to be THE ENERGY PROBLEM [Both Dems and Reps], and good long term eco-friendly energy solutions do not seem to be on their radar. BUT, being a bully and blaming someone else for their ineptitude always seems to be their modus operendi. We need to get off the environmental power game, and have all people working together to insure our economic prosperity and meet our clean-energy needs for the future.

John of FL 10:17PM June 01, 2008

In your country certain politicians are now calling for an equivalent 'Manhattan Project' to solve the oil and energy crisis but where this isolationist thinking by one nation will not work. Unfortunately the present and continual energy crisis from now on is totally different to that of developing the atomic bomb in WW2 or anything else for that matter. The Manhattan project was specifically for the construction and solution of a single problem - a bomb that the Nazis may create before ourselves with catastrophic consequences. It was therefore oriented around a single entity solution. But the energy problem is so multifaceted that it would literally take hundreds of Manhattan Projects to solve. But again the greatest problem is that technological solutions take decades to evolve and make any meaningful impact. The reason, sheer logistics to construct fast enough and the distribution of such technology globally. In this respect it takes at least 2 decades to make inroads with even a new technology created today. Therefore no great change will come about to this solution for at least 3 decades and therefore the world is in for probably the roughest ride that it has ever had to contend with. But again, the real problem is the sheer lack of knowledge of our political classes in understanding the energy problem. In this respect energy and more so the sciences that underpins energy, is alien to over 90% of politicians and therefore the reason why they do not understand how to start to even solve the problem.

Indeed, scientists and engineers have known about the dire problem and the end-game scenario since mid last century but where politicians have never taken the warnings of scientists et al seriously enough to change things and the way we operate. That is basically the reason why we are in the mess that we are in today. Indeed, if our political leaders/masters had taken a long haul view of the problem some 50 to 60 years ago, we would by now have had many of the solutions at hand. But as usual, politicians are reactionary and not pro-active with their endeavors and where it takes many decades to change the direction of global systems and where now due to this political ineptitude of our leaders (since the end of WW2), we just have not the time on our side. Therefore this grave problem is decidedly at the door of politicians and no others, for they were warned decades ago about energy and the problems ahead but where they decided to do nothing about it.

The problem is global and only by constructing a centralized global research and development complex where all nations share in the solution will we as humans succeed. Without this cooperative thinking, we shall not solve humankind's most pressing problem. It is as simple as that to a very complex problem.

Dr David Hill

World Innovation Foundation Charity

Bern, Switzerland

Ps. The late Dr Glenn Seaborg (Element 106 Seaborgium) who was the head of the plutonium plant on the Manhattan Project was our Foundation's first president.

Dr david hill of DC 9:19AM May 31, 2008