{"id":299834,"date":"2024-02-05T09:33:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T08:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=299834"},"modified":"2024-02-05T09:34:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T08:34:02","slug":"david-blackmon-exxonmobil-just-set-the-climate-alarm-lobby-on-fire-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=299834","title":{"rendered":"DAVID BLACKMON: ExxonMobil Just Set The Climate Alarm Lobby On Fire Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From The DAILY CALLER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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DAVID BLACKMON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ExxonMobil set the climate alarm lobby afire last week when it filed a lawsuit against a pair of activist investor groups challenging manifestly frivolous shareholder initiatives which they hope to bring up at the company\u2019s impending annual meeting in May. The suit was filed in a Texas court January 21 against Massachusetts-based investment firm Arjuna Capital and Amsterdam-based investor group Follow This.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports filed by the AP,\u00a0Reuters<\/em>, CNBC and other legacy media sites warned that a win by Exxon in the lawsuit could have a \u201cchilling effect\u201d on the bringing of other climate alarm and ESG-related initiatives in the future. The reasoning supporting that claim seems somewhat specious, given that Exxon\u2019s complaint is based on the fact that initiatives virtually identical to the ones sought by Arjuna and Follow This have been brought repeatedly in prior years and were resoundingly rejected in shareholder votes. Raising them again this year is an obvious waste of time and resources and amounts to little more than harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These specific questions, in other words, have been asked and answered several times, leaving little point in raising them again just for the sake of raising them. That hardly would mean that a favorable decision for ExxonMobil in this lawsuit would chill activist investors from raising other, valid questions in the future, but that is the narrative the alarmist lobby and their supportive media have settled on. (RELATED: DAVID BLACKMON: The Biden Admin And Its Buddies Are Waging Foolish War Against Abundant Clean Energy)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers may wonder why the company decided to file suit against these two activist investors rather than pursue the more regular appeals process governed by the Biden SEC. The answer is pretty simple: President Biden\u2019s appointees to the SEC decided to change up a decision process that had worked well for decades in order to make it far more difficult and bias the expected outcome in favor of the activist investors. Thus, as Reuters <\/em>and other outlets note, fewer and fewer companies have pursued their appeals with the SEC over the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what ExxonMobil said about it in an\u00a0email to CNBC:<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cThe breakdown of the shareholder proposal process, one that allows proponents to advance their agendas through a flood of proposals, does not serve the interests of investors. We are simply asking the court to apply the SEC\u2019s proxy rules as written to stop this abuse and eliminate the significant resources required to address them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reuters<\/em> quotes<\/a> one of the SEC\u2019s own commissioners, Mark Uyeda, as saying, \u201cCompanies could always go to court on shareholder proposals, but historically viewed the SEC as a fair arbiter. This perception may have changed due to recent policy changes.\u201d Oh. You don\u2019t say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, here\u2019s the moral of this story: When a radical president brings in appointees who destroy a system that was seen as fair by all stakeholders for decades on end and render it a basic kangaroo court, stakeholders are going to seek ways to work around the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing at all wrong with ExxonMobil\u2019s decision to file a lawsuit to block these frivolous proposed resolutions that serve no one\u2019s interests and waste everyone\u2019s time. The company has an absolute right to pursue all remedies available to it, including within the federal courts, even if it upsets the virtue signaling gentry in the climate alarm lobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is neatly analogous to the situation at the Texas border with Mexico, where Biden came into office and immediately issued a series of executive orders that blew up a system of securing the border that had been working quite well and replaced it with a system that basically and intentionally opened the country up to unchecked mass illegal immigration. Now, the administration bemoans the fact that Texas and other states are finding ways to work around his refusal to do anything constructive to slow the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When any presidential administration destroys a system that work and replace them with systems intentionally designed to fail, stakeholders are going to exercise their rights to seek other remedies. That\u2019s all ExxonMobil is doing here, and it should not come as a surprise to anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact\u00a0<\/em>licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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We will also cover the Crazy Climate News of the Week, including a curtain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Boulder County\"","block_context":{"text":"Boulder County","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=boulder-county"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-27-181855.png?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-27-181855.png?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-27-181855.png?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-27-181855.png?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-27-181855.png?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239385,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239385","url_meta":{"origin":299834,"position":5},"title":"New Harvard Study Proves Exxon Scientists Far Superior at Predicting Climate than the IPCC or James Hansen","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m sure Russell Cook will have lots to say about this study. I can\u2019t wait.\u00a0I\u2019m sure their blatant attempt at sophistry was not meant to reach the conclusion in my title. Emphasis mine below.~cr","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/00ffa71966261629.5d3a654be108c.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299834"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299840,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299834\/revisions\/299840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/299839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=299834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=299834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}