Exxon Cover-up Sparks Conversation

The arrest of Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who gave the keynote address on the Academy’s Climate Action Day (CAD) in February of last year, sparked discussion at the Academy about the importance of taking action—such as a revisiting the topic of divestment—against climate change just as McKibben did.“We must take concrete action, like divestment,” senior and Head E-Proctor Soren Blomquist Eggerling said. “Bill McKibben is a perfect example of concrete action. He has shaped his life around tackling what I believe will be the defining issue of our generation.”Sitting in front of a gas pump in Burlington, Vermont, McKibben had held a sign that read, in all caps, “This pump temporarily closed because ExxonMobil lied about (#Exxonknew) climate.” He was referring to how the company—previously Exxon, but renamed ExxonMobil in 1999 after a merger with Mobil—knew how burning fossil fuels impacted climate change and global warming because of computer and research models it created. But the knowledge did not steer it away from the course it wished to take.

“The sad truth is that few are willing to tell the shameful truth.”

“Instead, they lied—they helped fund institutes devoted to climate denial, and bankrolled politicians who fought against climate action,” McKibben wrote in a New Yorker article. “[Exxon’s] CEO—who had overseen much of the research—told Chinese leaders in 1997 that the globe was cooling and that they should go full-steam ahead with fossil fuel.”The quoted article, which was published on Sept. 15 this year, named a few ExxonMobil executives and examples of their blatant disregard of their company’s effect on the environment. One such example involved Lee Raymond, who was the president of the company while it conducted the bulk of its research on climate change and who later became CEO. In 1997, during a speech to the leaders of the oil industry, he denied that the globe was warming and discredited the government’s action to limit carbon emissions.For the Academy’s first ever CAD, on Feb. 11, McKibben opened with a keynote address titled “The Climate Fight: This Generation’s Greatest Battle.” He talked about what he has done with 350.org, his campaign group that aims to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 400 parts per million to 350 parts per million. Additionally, he discussed what he’s learned from trips around the globe and what challenges the climate action movement faces.“[My trips] have certainly helped me understand more of how high the stakes are for the poorest people on the planet,” McKibben said on that day. He explained that although it might be “hard” for some people in our communities to deal with acid rain, snowstorms and floods, their difficulties pale in comparison to the ones people around the world suffer from. “We’ll be alright. If you’re in Bangladesh, or the Maldives, or Vanuatu or Pakistan or wherever, you’ve got no choice. If things go bad, then you’re in big trouble.”Now, eight months later, both students and faculty have responded positively to what McKibben strived to achieve by getting arrested. Blomquist Eggerling described ExxonMobil’s cover up as “despicable” and McKibben’s protest as “honorable.”“[Exxon] had a moral obligation to release these findings and instead chose to hide what they realized for economic purposes,” Eggerling said. “This is an issue that concerns the survival of the human race, and Exxon decided that their bottom line was more important.”Likewise, upper Brandon Liu was disappointed in ExxonMobil. He acknowledged that for an oil giant such as ExxonMobil, it was logical and in its best interest to “publicly reject the facts for [its] own gain.” But he added that McKibben should be admired for all of his work and the movement he has helped instigate.Science instructor and chair of last year’s CAD Elizabeth Stevens added to Liu’s ideas, both reacting to ExxonMobil’s cover-up and to other climate change issues. She marked McKibben’s past anti-climate change action as one of the reasons the Academy invited him to speak last spring.“He has done an incredible job helping to bring the importance of the issue to the general public,” Stevens wrote in an email. Referring to his most recent protest, she added, “[It] sounds like Bill McKibben [is] at it once again.”Senior Anastasia Kurochkina said that Exxon hiding valuable data is yet another example in our society of how a small decision in favor of private interest can have not just big, but global consequences. She said that it was a shame that the company’s executives had considered climate change insignificant in contrast to the financial losses ExxonMobil would have suffered.“The sad truth is that few are willing to tell the shameful truth,” Kurochkina said, referencing how many individuals don’t have the courage to stand up to large corporations like Exxon. “The fact that McKibben is willing to risk his personal and political freedoms to raise the awareness about his cause is inspiring and motivating. Hardly could one do more than he does to bring attention to the cause and call for immediate action.”Students appreciated the fact that McKibben acted upon his ideals, rather than simply speaking about them.“The fact that Bill McKibben did something to make a difference other than speaking makes his message about global warming more powerful. His actions make it clear that he is truly passionate about the environment, and that his assembly last year was very genuine,” lower Emmett Shell said.Several students hoped that news of McKibben’s protest would instigate action at the Academy. “Divestment”—the act of removing investments from non eco-friendly businesses—was one of the projects that was mentioned as one action that Exeter can take. Blomquist Eggerling said that although financial limits might hinder this project, as a “leader in academia,” the Academy “cannot sit idle.”Liu shared similar sentiments. “I believe that the ultimate goal for Exeter is divestment: cutting our endowment’s support to the unsustainable and regressive fossil fuel industry will both impact the industry economically in a significant way, and set a precedent for forward-thinking secondary schools and also colleges,” he said. He also recognized the complexity and difficulty of divestment when considering the Academy’s finances holistically, but he felt that the school needs to take a stance on the issue of climate change despite potential reprisal.Stevens supported Blomquist Eggerling’s and Liu’s suggestion, saying that she would like to see PEA look at the divestment issue once again. She added that the Academy should participate by getting involved in movements, joining protests and supporting 350.org.In addition to these projects, Liu hopes that the Academy will continue inviting speakers who—as McKibben did on CAD—will inspire students and faculty in their respective fields.“I hope that Exeter will continue to seek out speakers as passionate as he is—in all fields, not just environmentalism—so that students will broaden their scope and discover what truly matters most to them,” Liu said.