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Energy Idiocy brought to you by ExxonMobil and Clean Coal
Energy Idiocy Seen on the Streets of Denver
This post is from Sierra Club Deputy Press Secretary Josh Dorner, who is also in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.
As has been reported by ThinkProgress and others, ExxonMobil has paid for a significant portion of the convention's media coverage and the energy industry (and most others) are lavishing sponsorships on events, parties, and receptions from dusk 'til dawn. But the entrenched dirty energy interests seem particularly intent on using the convention to push their issues.
Upon arriving at the swirling maelstrom that was Denver International Airport, I was immediately greeted by ads from the American Coalition Clean Coal Electricity (nee Americans for Balanced Energy Choices), the coal industry front group. (Their ads were even more prominent at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport where I had flown in from and where thousands of Republicans will pass through during their own convention next week.) A stroll down and around the 16th Street Mall, Denver's main drag, revealed even more energy idiocy. For those less ambulatory (or less willing to walk around in wool on a 90-degree day), clean coal even brings the message to you (click here to see the full photo):
2008-08-25-cleancoal.jpg
And, everyone's favorite slogan from the Newt Gingrich crew (click here if you can't see the full photo): 2008-08-25-photo.jpg Energy Idiocy Seen on the Streets of Denver ... more -
Exxon Sets Record with Nearly $12 Billion in 2Q
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares fell. Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporati... more
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ExxonMoblil 2nd quarter $11.68 billion profits highest-ever for an American compan...
Rising Oil Prices Swell Profits at Exxon and Shell
Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported on Thursday that second-quarter income rose 14 percent, to $11.68 billion, the highest-ever for an American company.
Net income of $2.22 a share compared with $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, in the quarter a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent, to $138.1 billion, from $98.4 billion in the quarter a year ago.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million tied to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings were $11.97 billion, or $2.27 a share.
Excluding one-time charges, analysts had expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
With this quarter’s result, Exxon topped its own record of $11.66 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Earlier in London, Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, reported a 33 percent increase in second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by a higher oil price even as production declined.
Like a smaller rival BP earlier this week, Shell profited from an oil price that almost doubled in the second quarter from the year earlier, but a 13 percent drop from a record on July 11 raised some concern among investors about whether oil companies can keep up the pace of earnings growth. BP said earlier this week that higher oil prices have started to affect consumer demand for gasoline.
Shell’s profit rose to $11.56 billion from $8.67 billion in the period a year ago. BP reported a 28 percent increase in profit earlier this week and the Italian oil company Eni said on Thursday that profit in the second quarter rose 52 percent.
... Rising Oil Prices Swell Profits at Exxon and Shell ... more -
Exxon has record profit again...$11.68 BILLION
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said on Thursday soaring oil prices pushed its second-quarter earnings up 14 percent, again breaking its own record for the highest-ever profit by a U.S. company.
Net income in the quarter rose to $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, last year.
Exxon -- the world's largest publicly traded company -- previously set the high-water mark for quarterly earnings in the fourth quarter of last year, when it brought in $11.66 billion.
Despite the new record, Exxon's results lagged behind analyst expectations.
The company posted operating earnings of $2.27 a share in the quarter, which exclude a $290 million charge related to the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Exxon Valdez case. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn $2.53 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue in the quarter rose about 40 percent to $138.07 billion.
Exxon both produces oil and refines it to make gasoline, and profit margins for gasoline were weak during the quarter, holding back earnings slightly.
The company said earnings from its exploration and production business rose about 68 percent to $10.01 billion. But its refining and marketing earnings fell about 54 percent to $1.56 billion.
U.S. oil prices averaged slightly less than $125 a barrel in the quarter, nearly double prices from a year earlier. Gasoline prices only rose 25 percent during that same period, resulting in weak profit margins for the fuel.
Shares of Exxon Mobil fell 2.2 percent in pre-market trade after its earnings were announced. Through Wednesday's close, they were down about 10 percent this year, underperforming the Chicago Board Options Exchange's oil index (.OIX), which has fallen about 5.2 percent over the same period. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said on Thursday soaring oil prices pushed its second-quarter earnings up 14 percent, ag... more -
The 10 Worst Corporations of 2007
Neither Honest Nor Trustworthy: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2007
by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
The U.S. public holds Big Business in shockingly low regard.
A November 2007 Harris poll found that less than 15 percent of the population believes each of the following industries to be "generally honest and trustworthy:" tobacco companies (3 percent); oil companies (3 percent); managed care companies such as HMOs (5 percent); health insurance companies (7 percent); telephone companies (10 percent); life insurance companies (10 percent); online retailers (10 percent); pharmaceutical and drug companies (11 percent); car manufacturers (11 percent); airlines (11 percent); packaged food companies (12 percent); electric and gas utilities (15 percent). Only 32 percent of adults said they trusted the best-rated industry about which Harris surveyed, supermarkets.
With the 10 Worst Corporations of 2007, we aim to show - again - that Big Business is out of control and to connect comparable abuses to the failure of government overseers, regulators and enforcers.
Presented alphabetically, here are the 10 Worst Corporations of 2007:
http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2007/112007/mokhi... Neither Honest Nor Trustworthy: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2007 by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman ... more -
Exxon to cut funding to climate change denial groups
The oil giant ExxonMobil has admitted that its support for lobby groups that question the science of climate change may have hindered action to tackle global warming. In its corporate citizenship report, released last week, ExxonMobil says it intends to cut funds to several groups that "divert attention" from the need to find new sources of clean energy.
The move comes ahead of the firm's annual meeting today in Dallas, at which prominent shareholders including the Rockefeller family will urge ExxonMobil to take the problem of climate change more seriously. Green campaigners accuse the company of funding a "climate denial industry" over the last decade, with $23m (£11.5m) handed over to groups that play down the risks of burning fossil fuels.
The ExxonMobil report says: "In 2008 we will discontinue contributions to several public policy research groups whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion on how the world will secure the energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner."
Nine groups have reportedly lost the company's support, including the George C Marshall Institute, the Washington DC-based think tank that asserts there is no scientific consensus on climate change, and that changes in the sun, not greenhouse gases, could be responsible for rising temperatures.
A survey carried out by the UK's Royal Society found that in 2005 ExxonMobil distributed $2.9m to 39 groups that the society said "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence". In 2006 the society wrote to the company to ask them to stop funding such groups.
Kert Davies of Greenpeace said: "The organisations eliminated in this latest rounds of cuts could be called the engine room of the climate sceptic industry, but if Rex Tillerson [head of ExxonMobil] is serious about his company shaking off this shameful legacy, he needs to make a wider sweep."
Greenpeace says ExxonMobil continues to fund over "two dozen other organisations who question the science of global warming or attack policies to solve the crisis." The oil giant ExxonMobil has admitted that its support for lobby groups that question the science of climate change may have hindered ... more -
Nigerian militants to guard oil pipelines in Niger Delta
The president of Nigeria Umaru Yar'Adua has taken steps to indoctrinate the abundance of militants in the oil rich Niger Delta region into a defence scheme for the pipelines in the area.
The Defence Minister Alhaji Yayale Ahmed stated to the House of Representatives Committee that the federal government in conjunction with local and state levels have cultivated plans of “constructive engagement " meaning the forming of limited liability companies for the legitimate employ of the militants.
The area of the Niger Delta has suffered from unrest for many years due to the rich wealth in resources of the region and its exploitation paralleled with the poverty of the population in the region and the damage to the environment caused that effect all life in the area. MarianaVanZeller's pod will explain a lot about the situation: http://current.com/items/77541711_rebels_in_the_pipelin....
MEND have not stated if they will be involved with this “constructive engagement “scheme but their leader in negotiations has recently given his faith to peace in negotiations with the
Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee chairman Chief James Jeftha. There has been criticism of “constructive engagement " in the Nigerian and international communities, as questions such as; whose arming them, who do they answer to, how do you know they won’t continue hostile actions inside installations ? More constructive questions consist of; why not focus efforts on the Nigerian Local Content Policy to stop sucking up money and actually be applied to areas in need of it. Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko addresses these issues in the linked article, here is a taste:
“The truth of the matter is that offering security jobs to the militants will not solve the problems at hand in the Niger Delta. A holistic approach, which requires integrating and domesticating the largely foreign-controlled “enclave” oil and gas economy, is what, is desirable. The militant youths need education, quality of life that comes with productive employment, training opportunities and an environment free from oil and gas related pollution etc.” The president of Nigeria Umaru Yar'Adua has taken steps to indoctrinate the abundance of militants in the oil rich Niger Delta re... more -
Exxon facing shareholder revolt over approach to climate change
A shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil led by the billionaire Rockefeller family has won the support of four significant British institutional investors who will call on Monday for a shakeup in the governance of the world's biggest oil company.
Guardian.co.uk has learned that F&C Asset Management, Morley Fund Management, the Co-Operative Insurance Society and the West Midlands Pension Fund are throwing their weight behind a resolution demanding that ExxonMobil appoints an independent chairman to stimulate debate on the company's board.
Exxon is facing a rebellion from its investors over its hardline approach to global warming. The firm has refused to follow rival oil companies in committing large-scale capital investment to environmentally friendly technology such as wind and solar power. A shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil led by the billionaire Rockefeller family has won the support of four significant British instituti... more -
Inupiat Eskimos file lawsuit against greenhouse gas hawkers and emitters
A tiny and impoverished Alaskan village of Inupiat Eskimos located in the Arctic Circle, Kivalina, filed a lawsuit March 4 against industrial corporations that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases.
Kivalina faces imminent destruction from global warming due to the melting of sea ice that formerly protected the village from coastal storms during the fall and winter. The diminished sea ice due to global warming has caused a massive erosion problem that threatens the village's existence and urgently requires the village be relocated.
The Native village of Kivalina filed the case against defendants ExxonMobil Corp., Peabody Energy Corp., Southern Company, American Electric Power Co., Duke Energy Co, Chevron Corp. and Shell Oil Co., among others.
The suit claims damages due to the defendant companies' contributions to global warming and invokes the federal common law of public nuisance. The suit also alleges a conspiracy by some defendants to mislead the public regarding the causes and consequences of global warming. The residents of Kivalina are among the nation's poorest people.
Colleen Swan, tribal administrator of Kivalina, said, ''The campaign of deception and denial about global warming must stop.'' She added, ''Global warming and its effects are a reality we have to deal with. People's lives are in danger because of it.
Official reports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Government Accountability Office have found that Kivalina is directly harmed by global warming and must relocate at an expense that could cost $400 million or more.'' A tiny and impoverished Alaskan village of Inupiat Eskimos located in the Arctic Circle, Kivalina, filed a lawsuit March 4 against ind... more -
Venezuela cuts off Exxon Mobil from oil
Venezuela's state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil company's drive to use the courts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil is locked in a dispute over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela that has led President Hugo Chavez to threaten to cut off all Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States.
Venezuela is currently the United States' fourth largest oil supplier. Venezuela's state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil com... more -
Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil Sales to US
President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if a corporation wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Article Below:
"AP
Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil Sales to US
Sunday February 10, 6:23 pm ET
By Sandra Sierra, Associated Press Writer
Venezuelan President Threatens to Cut Off Oil Sales to US, Calls Exxon Mobil 'Outlaws'
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government.
A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets.
"If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going to harm you," Chavez said during his weekly radio and television program, "Hello, President." "Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger."
Chavez has repeatedly threatened to cut off oil shipments to the United States, which is Venezuela's No. 1 client, if Washington tries to oust him. Chavez's warnings on Sunday appeared to extend that threat to attempts by oil companies to challenge his government's nationalization drive through lawsuits.
"I speak to the U.S. empire, because that's the master: continue and you will see that we won't sent one drop of oil to the empire of the United States," Chavez said Sunday.
"The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us," Chavez said, accusing the Irving, Texas-based oil company of acting in concert with Washington.
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross said the company had no comment. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Caracas did not return a call.
Venezuela accounted for about 12 percent of U.S. crude oil imports in November, the latest figures available from the U.S. Energy Department. The 1.23 million barrels a day from Venezuela makes that country the U.S.'s fourth-biggest oil importer behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has argued that court orders won by Exxon Mobil have "no effect" on the state oil company PDVSA and are merely "transitory measures" while Venezuela presents its case in courts in New York and London.
Exxon Mobil is also taking its claims to international arbitration, disputing the terms it was granted under Chavez's nationalization last year of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.
Other major oil companies including U.S.-based Chevron Corp., France's Total, Britain's BP PLC, and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA have negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue on as minority partners in the Orinoco oil project.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, however, balked at the tougher terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
Associated Press writer John Porretto in Houston contributed to this report." President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if a corporation w... more
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