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At Exxon: Climate advocates gained influence at oil giant ExxonMobil after two candidates nominated by an activist firm won seats on the company’s board on Wednesday.
Preliminary votes showed two of Engine No. 1 s candidates winning seats after being elected by company shareholders, Exxon said in a statement.
Those two, Gregory Goff and Kaisa Hietala, could be joined by a third, as vote results for Engine No. 1 nominee Alexander Karsner were among those that were too close to call.
The firm has called for the company to make more significant investments in clean energy, using stricter approval criteria for new expenditures and an “overhaul” of management
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Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) on Wednesday chastised oil company executives who declined her invitation to testify before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, saying they “declined to answer to the American people.”
Porter, who chairs the subcommittee, invited the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Devon Energy and EOG Resources to testify at a hearing, which was titled, “Misuse of Taxpayer Dollars and Corporate Welfare in the Oil and Gas Industry.”
All three, as well as officials with the trade group Western Energy Alliance, ultimately declined.
Porter cites industry tax breaks: “I have long said that congressional hearings are opportunities for representatives and witnesses to be in conversation with Americans. Yet, despite receiving billions in taxpayer subsidies, every witness that we invited today from the oil and gas industry declined to answer to the American people,” Porter said, responding during Wednesday’s hearing.