"Exxon Pledges To Cut Emissions — But Not From Its Oil"

"Exxon Mobil's new net-zero pledge stacks up poorly, even by oil company standards."

"On Tuesday, oil giant Exxon Mobil announced that it aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. More specifically, it has the “ambition” to reach net-zero emission from its operations within the next 28 years. “We’ve got a line of sight,” Exxon’s chief executive, Darren Woods, said in an interview with the New York Times. “By the end of this year, 90 percent of our assets will have road maps to reduce emissions and realize this net-zero future.” The plan builds on an announcement Exxon made last month that said the company is aiming for net-zero emissions from its operations in the Permian Basin by 2030.

Exxon follows in the footsteps of Shell, BP, and Total — European oil companies that announced net-zero climate plans in 2020 — and U.S.-based Chevron, which unveiled a net-zero plan last year. With the exception of Shell, which has been ordered by a Dutch court to reduce its global emissions 45 percent by 2030, oil companies are making these pledges to get cleaner voluntarily in response to pressure from the public and investors and to market forces that have made renewable energy generally cheaper than fossil fuels. Exxon, which concealed evidence that its products caused climate change in the 1970s, has been slow to hop on the net-zero bandwagon. Internal documents leaked to Bloomberg Green in 2020 showed that the company expected its operational emissions to increase through 2025.

Now, the company has changed its tune, saying it has made a list of 150 modifications to its business practices that would whittle down emissions, like transitioning its operations to renewable energy.

But experts say Exxon’s net-zero plan has a major blind spot: It only covers Scope 1 and 2 emissions — the emissions the company produces directly, while digging for oil, for example, and the emissions produced by the utilities it buys its power from. The plan doesn’t extend to cover Exxon’s largest contributions to climate change. They’re called Scope 3 emissions, the greenhouse gases produced by the companies clustered along Exxon’s supply chain and the emissions produced by customers who buy and burn the company’s oil and gas."

Zoya Teirstein reports for Grist January 19, 2022.