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Exxon CEO: Warming Happening, But Fears Overblown

Posted by samzenpus on from the we-didn't-start-the-fire dept.

Freshly Exhumed writes "In a speech Wednesday, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson acknowledged that burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet, but said society will be able to adapt. The risks of oil and gas drilling are well understood and can be mitigated, he said. And dependence on other nations for oil is not a concern as long as access to supply is certain, he said. Tillerson blamed a public that is "illiterate" in science and math, a "lazy" press, and advocacy groups that "manufacture fear" for energy misconceptions in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations."

10 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. C'mon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tillerson blamed a public that is "illiterate" in science and math, a "lazy" press

    Yes, the public is about as smart as a rock. But that doesn't mean you need to spin it. Desertification of wide swaths of land as well as the acidification of the oceans will be pretty hard to deal with.

    And dependence on other nations for oil is not a concern as long as access to supply is certain

    Not a concern for Exxon, he means.

    1. Re:C'mon by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Indeed. We are now at the point in the anti-science strategy where you admit some minimalistic version of what the science is saying, but spin it so that the admission isn't a big deal.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:C'mon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In other words, we're at stage two.
      (For the uninitiated:
      - In stage one we say nothing is going to happen.
      - Stage two, we say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it.
      - In stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we *can* do.
      - Stage four, we say maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now.)

    3. Re:C'mon by kermidge · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "....society will be able to adapt."

      really means, "I've got mine. Screw everybody else."

  2. Standard PR by geekoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Deny
    Undervalue impact
    Disassociate
    Imply fix.

    On the plus side,now that the CEO of Exxon has also said that the increase in temperatures over standard cycles i.e. Global Warming, is man made, I'm sure all you deniers will now apologize fro being wrong.

    haha, of course you want. You entrenched into an emotional opinion, so actual facts will never change you mind.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Standard PR by TapeCutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes it's a fact that nobody has a good ice cap model. Simarly nobody has a solution to the N-body problem, so does that mean the theory of gravity is wrong?

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:Standard PR by Schmorgluck · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So you are pretending that deforestation has been reversed? I didn't get the memo.

      --
      There's nothing like $HOME
  3. Amazing! by SoftwareArtist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The CEO of an oil company tells us that burning oil isn't such a big problem! Well, I guess we can all stop worrying about that then.

    --
    "I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
  4. No, no, no! by StefanJ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    4. Huh . . . well, look at that. Hurricanes in January. Hey, this is not a time to play the blame game. No one could have foreseen this would happen.
    5. Something must be done. Level headed people like us. Introducing Exxon Atmospheric Engineering Associates.
    6. OK, that didn't work. But hey, neon green sunsets . . . cool!
    7. Look you'all knew for decades that our product could lead to this, but you CHOSE to ignore the warnings by scientists rather than taking responsibility and choosing to use renewable energy. We were just selling a product people wanted and freely chose to use.

  5. Of course not... by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And dependence on other nations for oil is not a concern as long as access to supply is certain, he said.

    Of course not, it's not as if it's your boys who are going to get sent off to get killed, maimed for life, and left with memories that will haunt them forever, you goddamn plutocrat fuck. It's not as if nearly all of our current national security headaches (and nearly all the people killed by terrorism in the world for the last 20 years) can be traced to our meddling in the middle east AT YOUR BEHEST AND ON YOUR BEHALF. Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick, don't you people pay handlers to prevent us from seeing just what massive assholes you are?

    Notice how we never, ever hear this kind of despicable statement from people like Joe Biden, or the English royals, both of of whom have family serving? You will find no record of President Eisenhower blithely insulting the difficult job the men in Korea faced (I wonder why!). Yet there is a word that specifically refers to the kind of twunts who don't serve, then loudly cheer to have others sent to die (especially if they use privilege to avoid serving after being called to): chickenhawks. They are despicable and should be loudly shamed at every opportunity.