ExxonMobil lobbyist caught on camera saying company's support for carbon tax is a PR stunt

ExxonMobil sign.
(Image credit: Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images)

A senior lobbyist for ExxonMobil told an undercover reporter that the oil company's support for a carbon tax is nothing more than a public relations stunt meant to slow down actual regulations aimed at curbing climate change.

During a Zoom meeting in May, Keith McCoy, Exxon's senior director of federal relations, told the reporter from Greenpeace's investigative journalism outlet Unearthed that the company "aggressively" fought against climate science and funded shadow groups to deny global warming. Exxon's backing of a carbon tax is "an advocacy tool," he said, and Republican lawmakers who are against taxes won't ever let it happen.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.