Some environmental advocates see Exxon’s
move as a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s
Environmental Protection Agency, which in
August proposed relaxing regulations on
methane emissions. But they also said Exxon
needs to be much more aggressive in its efforts
to curtail global warming.
“The steps Exxon Mobil has taken and the
commitments the company announced are
nowhere near sufficient to get us there,” said
Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director
at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We need
to see much more ambitious and urgent actions
taken by companies like Exxon Mobil.”
Methane has 86 times the global warming
potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year
period, according to the Union of Concerned
Scientists. It is the main component of
natural gas, and when companies drill for oil,
they generally also get natural gas, whether
they want it or not. Methane is released in
the atmosphere during extraction and
distribution of natural gas, and while many
scientists agree this is a major problem, there
is little data to show exactly how much is
leaking into the atmosphere.
Last year, Exxon and other oil giants pushed
back the EPA’s proposal to relax regulations
on methane emissions. At the time, many had
already invested in equipment and upgrades
to satisfy emissions regulations enacted
under former President Barack Obama. Major
oil companies are also under pressure from
investors to prove they will be able to adapt
to future regulations that aim to curtail
global warming.
Image: Brendan McDermid