Here at ExxonMobil, we’re proud of the fact that we have 37 refineries in 21 countries around the world, and as a result we take our global citizenship very seriously. That’s why today, I’m proud to announce that ExxonMobil will become a part of the solution to climate change by installing solar panels on all of its oil refineries. Of course, the dangers of the impending climate crisis are well known to all of us. Rising seas, displaced peoples, mass extinction, and food shortages are all but guaranteed as a result of uncontrolled fossil fuel emissions. Humanity has a responsibility to itself and to the planet that has given it so much, including gasoline, synthetic rubber, paint, nylon tape, and 6,000 other petroleum products that ExxonMobil helps create every single day. Facing climate change is the great challenge of our time, and we are excited about the opportunity to be an integral part of this effort to securing a bright future.
I swell with pride knowing that when crude oil arrives at our facilities across the globe, it will be heated by a furnace entirely powered by solar energy into gas, kerosene, diesel, and other assorted petroleum products. Perhaps from there the fledgling fuel will flow to hydrotreaters and catalytic reformers which will be brought to life by light particles traveling from over 93 million miles away and then harnessed by photovoltaic cells strategically located across the complex. Once refined, Exxon-Mobil employees who are paid a fair wage depending on the respective labor laws and purchasing power of their country of employment will secure the fuel on freighters and semi-trailer trucks. While cargo ships use heavy fuel oil and semis use diesel, they are both part of the same mission: the mitigation of climate change. This is the mission of ExxonMobil.
The final product might make its way to a commuter driving his (or her) Ford F-150, who will be able to sleep well at night knowing that the unleaded 87 octane fuel from any of over 10,000 ExxonMobil stations used to power that 5.0L V8 engine was processed at a refinery dedicated to a sustainable future. Contrast this with the unimaginable guilt that saddles customers at Chevron, Shell or BP who knowingly contribute to the behemoth of global warming that indiscriminately ruins lives and livelihoods. Patrons at ExxonMobil will be liberated from such a burden.
Some nights, I wake up in a cold sweat when I think about the world we leave for our children. In their lifetime, polar ice gaps won’t exist in summer, a fact that should give pause to literally any thinking person. Ecologists now claim that we are in the midst of the 6th great extinction of Earth’s 4.543 billion year history, the first that has ever been almost exclusively manmade. How can we stand by while that happens? The arguments for controlling the disaster of climate change that will unfold across the next century and beyond are moral, economic, spiritual, environmental, and political. To deny that is to deny your humanity, and ExxonMobil refuses to abandon its fellow man in the struggle for justice.
ExxonMobil has always been a leader in developing bold and innovative solutions. Last year, we took the groundbreaking step of making sure all of our fracking activities were powered by wind energy. The year before, we established a fund with SeaWorld to raise awareness about the disgusting practices at BP that caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I hope you enjoyed reading this on recycled paper and will take its message to heart. The fate of the world depends on it.
Sincerely Yours,
Tex W. Rillerson
CEO Exxon Mobil Corp.
— AT ’17
