{"id":330897,"date":"2024-06-02T09:12:46","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T07:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=330897"},"modified":"2024-06-02T09:12:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T07:12:48","slug":"business-roundtable-does-a-180-on-stakeholder-capitalism-in-exxonmobil-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=330897","title":{"rendered":"Business Roundtable Does a 180 on Stakeholder Capitalism in ExxonMobil Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brent Bennett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 28, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, ExxonMobil, the largest energy company in the U.S., will face yet another challenge to its leadership. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest state public pension fund in the U.S., is leading a group of pension funds<\/a> to vote against all of Exxon\u2019s directors. Glass Lewis, one of the largest proxy advisory firms in the world, is recommending voting against<\/a> Exxon\u2019s lead independent director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason for the latest uproar is Exxon\u2019s recent lawsuit<\/a> against two activist investors, Arjuna Capital and Follow This, for continuing to push shareholder resolutions that require Exxon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, over time, stop producing oil and gas, no matter the cost to the firm and its shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exxon argues that its lawsuit is necessary because the Securities and Exchange Commission, which by law is supposed to act as a neutral arbiter in determining whether shareholder resolutions can be dismissed or must put to a vote, changed its policy<\/a> to allow resolutions unrelated to the company\u2019s ordinary business purposes but that had \u201cbroad societal impact.\u201d Without the SEC as a gatekeeper, Exxon will have to spend millions every year to defeat activist proposals that would destroy billions of dollars of shareholder value if implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A remarkable development is the public support that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable<\/a>, which have retained the law firm of Lehotsky Keller\u00beknown for its effort<\/a>s (so far successful) to stop the SEC\u2019s climate disclosure rule\u00beto write a brief of amicus curiae<\/a> supporting ExxonMobil\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brief contains some pointed rebukes of environmental, social and governance (ESG) activism, concluding that until the courts weigh in, activist investors have free rein to \u201cpush an ideological agenda divorced from the success of the corporation\u2014or worse, as in this case, directly antagonistic to it.\u201d As the brief makes clear, \u201csuccess\u201d refers to financial success and sustainability, not to success in achieving environmental or social goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s remarkable is not the brief itself, but how far it departs from the recent positions the Chamber and the Roundtable have taken on this issue. In August 2019, the Roundtable issued the first update since 1997 to its policy statement<\/a> on the purpose of a corporation. Signed by about 200 CEOs of America\u2019s largest companies, it concluded that \u201cEach of our stakeholders is essential. We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new statement represented a marked shift in the Roundtable\u2019s stance, which previously focused solely on delivering value to the company\u2019s shareholders<\/em>. Two years later, in May 2021, one of the signers of that document, Darren Woods of ExxonMobil, had three of his board members replaced<\/a> because of a dispute over the company\u2019s stance on climate change and its reluctance to invest in low carbon businesses. It seemed that \u201cstakeholder capitalism\u201d was becoming de rigueur for corporate America. Those companies not on board with it could expect a challenge to their leadership from activist shareholders and a growing set of powerful institutional investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now the tables have turned. Exxon, fresh off a couple of the most profitable years in its history, is taking the fight to the ESG activists. The SEC is in retreat, having pulled its climate disclosure rule<\/a> until the lawsuit over that rule is resolved. The Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber, which appeared to be in a headlong rush to support stakeholder capitalism, are now speaking out against ideological agendas that are \u201cdivorced from the success of the corporation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Exxon\u2019s annual meeting on May 29, the ball will be in the court of the big institutional investors, especially the Big Three asset managers\u00beBlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street\u00bewho hold a large portion of Exxon\u2019s stock. A vote against Exxon\u2019s leadership will show a continuation of their past support for climate change activists pushing to force oil and gas companies to change their business models. A vote in favor of Exxon\u2019s leadership would signal that Wall Street is reaching a limit in its embrace of ESG principles and its willingness to capitulate to political activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the statements in the Business Roundtable\u2019s amicus brief are an indication of changing attitudes within corporate America toward ESG activists and their public pension allies, it is likely that Exxon\u2019s leadership will come out on the winning side of this battle. The biggest winners will be millions of Exxon shareholders, who want the company to generate the best financial returns for them, and the vast majority of Americans, who want corporations to leave politics to the politicians and to focus on creating products and services that improve lives and increase prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brent Bennett, Ph.D., is the policy director for Life:Powered, an initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise America\u2019s energy IQ, and a senior fellow with the National Center for Energy Analytics.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

On Wednesday, ExxonMobil, the largest energy company in the U.S., will face yet another challenge to its leadership. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest state public pension fund in the U.S., is leading a group of pension funds to vote against all of Exxon\u2019s directors. Glass Lewis, one of the largest proxy advisory firms in the world, is recommending voting against Exxon\u2019s lead independent director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":330899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691828926,691818229,691819194,691827669],"class_list":{"0":"post-330897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-california-public-employees-retirement-system-calpers","9":"tag-esg","10":"tag-exxonmobil","11":"tag-shareholders","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/02a065825e0424983a1b03cf1d7a21a96.webp?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1o53","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":428719,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428719","url_meta":{"origin":330897,"position":0},"title":"ExxonMobil Strikes Back: Judge Greenlights Defamation Suit Against California AG Over Recycling Claims","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"California, under Attorney General Rob Bonta (and previously in broader actions with Governor Gavin Newsom), has pursued aggressive legal actions against \"Big Oil\" companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips.","rel":"","context":"In \"Big Oil\"","block_context":{"text":"Big Oil","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=big-oil"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMvE5XTSRWNApdEUejRh39zoNMUkvvwibxE9eVujuLo2H9R4_IdrfUSElOCoFMQMyX6CEdRqnnl9qTkzRnI594sZPno8fUbAHJfrbIV3C_QBEOy-29G_mMc9YYPsaRYhsqpLuJDpDtwFUhz3HOQm2HR7ntS8A.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239385,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=239385","url_meta":{"origin":330897,"position":1},"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":[]},{"id":279322,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279322","url_meta":{"origin":330897,"position":2},"title":"\u2018ExxonKnew\u2019: More Correction","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A sober look at the \u201cExxonKnew\u201d campaign reveals an anti-fossil-fuel agenda inspiring a myopic view of the company\u2019s old investigations into carbon dioxide (CO2).","rel":"","context":"In \"anti-fossil-fuel agenda\"","block_context":{"text":"anti-fossil-fuel agenda","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=anti-fossil-fuel-agenda"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-552.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":282318,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=282318","url_meta":{"origin":330897,"position":3},"title":"Climate Tales: BlackRock got Exxon to divest oil fields that PetroChina wanted (which BlackRock also owned shares in)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From JoNova by Jo Nova When will the Green climate activists realize they are the minions of the Banksters, and communist governments? 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