Documents from Exxon regarding its knowledge of the causes and effects of climate change, and the company’s role in the former, continue to surface. Sure, the idea that Exxon lied to the public about climate change might damage its PR, but to what end? Information, like that released a few days ago (1), further solidify the argument that Exxon had a moral obligation to change its behavior based on its knowledge of climate change, but morals did not keep Exxon from lying about the negative impact that burning fossil fuels has on climate. So what about legal obligations? Will any executives receive criminal charges for deceiving the public? Unlikely, based on lack of precedent. Then what civil charges can be brought against Exxon that will incentivize it to change behavior?That’s what the focus of news about Exxon should be on. I think that consumers are unlikely to stop buying Exxon gas based on their perception of the company (but I want the news to inform me about this, too!), and even if they want to, they’re unlikely to know if Exxon has had a part in extracting or refining their purchased gas. For example, Sheetz gas is probably a mix of Exxon and other sources, but you can’t know for sure, because Sheetz doesn’t know for sure (2).

We know companies do things to things to protect themselves. That usually ends up sucking for public health, but it’s not news. The things I want to know are: will citizens complain to their representatives if they know that Exxon is scummy? How likely are representatives respond in such a way that damages Exxon’s profits? How likely is success of litigation against Exxon for lying to investors about climate change, and so the value of the company, and what effect would success have?

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/science/pressure-on-exxon-over-climate-change-intensifies-with-new-documents.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront

2 https://www.sheetz.com/subpages/faqs.jsp#q08