Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Subscribe
    • Home
    • Oil
    • Gas
    • Power
    • Solid Minerals
    • Labour
    • Financing
    • Freight
    • Community Development
    • E-Editions
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Home » U.S. House panel turns to oil majors’ boards in next climate probe

    U.S. House panel turns to oil majors’ boards in next climate probe

    January 22, 2022
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
    Washington — A U.S. congressional committee has invited board members at four oil majors to testify about the industry’s role in climate change and spreading “disinformation,” turning up the heat after lawmakers grilled CEOs last year.

    The hearing of officials from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP who were elected to spur change at these companies over environmental issues is scheduled for Feb. 8.

    It is the next phase of a House oversight committee investigation into the role of fossil fuel companies in blocking action on climate change and misrepresenting the industry’s efforts to address it.

    The panel concluded the first of these hearings last year featuring the CEOS of oil majors by issuing subpoenas for documents on what company scientists have said about climate change and any funds spent to mislead the public on global warming.

    “We’ve only begun our investigation into the fossil fuel industry’s role in causing the climate crisis and spreading disinformation,” panel chair U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney said in a statement on Friday.

    By turning its sights on on climate change-focused board members, the committee plans to scrutinize corporate pledges to cut emissions and invest in cleaner energy sources.

    “These are board members who ran on changing these institutions from the inside,” chair of the oversight panel’s environment subcommittee Ro Khanna told Reuters. “They will have to chose between their life convictions or fealty to their CEOs.”

    Among the board members selected to testify include Alexander Karsner, a strategist at Google owner Alphabet Inc who took one of three seats for activist hedge fund Engine No. 1on Exxon’s board to address growing investor concerns about global warming.

    The committee also sent a letter to Susan Avery, an atmospheric scientist and former president of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and brought on to Exxon’s board as a climate expert in 2017.

    The letters said board members play a key role in holding management accountable to meaningful emissions reductions.

    Each of the four companies invited have announced net zero emission targets by 2050 and said their plans are aligned with the goals of the Paris agreement.

    The panel will focus on the fact that the companies’ net zero plans are mostly focused on their internal operations, not on the emissions released when consumers burn the fuels they produce.

    Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton did not comment on the new hearing but said the company has “provided (committee) staff with more than 200,000 pages of documents, including board materials and internal communications.”

    The board members were not immediately available for comment.

    – Reuters (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, John Stonestreet and Mark Porter)

    Follow us on twitter

    Related News

    Oil prices rally as United States sanctions on Venezuela ease supply worries

    Oil prices climb to 2-month high on US-China trade deal, worries about Iran supply

    Nigeria partners Brazil to develop methanol complex 

    Nigeria says divestment paying off as oil output rises

    Comments are closed.

    E-book
    Resilience Exhibition

    Latest News

    Oil prices climb to 2-month high on US-China trade deal, worries about Iran supply

    June 11, 2025

    Kenya central bank lowers 2026 growth forecast to 5.4%

    June 11, 2025

    Nigeria partners Brazil to develop methanol complex 

    June 11, 2025

    FG to train 100,000 youths annually in forex trading

    June 11, 2025

    China, Africa ask US to return to ‘right track’ on trade differences

    June 11, 2025
    Demo
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Opec Daily Basket
    • Oil
    • Power
    • Gas
    • Freight
    • Financing
    • Labour
    • Technology
    • Solid Mineral
    • Conferences/Seminars
    • Community Development
    • Nigerian Content Initiative
    • Niger-Delta Question
    • Insurance
    • Other News
    • Focus
    • Feedback
    • Hanging Out With Markson

    Subscribe for Updates

    Get the latest energy news from Sweetcrudereports.

    Please wait...
    Please enter all required fields Click to hide
    Correct invalid entries Click to hide
    © 2025 Sweetcrudereports.
    • About Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy Policy

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.