The "Exxpose Exxon" campaign includes twelve of the nation's largest environmental public interest groups, representing a combined membership of 6.4 million.

Citing the record profits raked in by ExxonMobil and other oil companies in recent years, the campaigners charge that the energy bill will allocate huge and unnecessary tax breaks and subsidies to the oil industry. ExxonMobil has already raked in a record-breaking $15 billion in profits in just the first half of 2005, recording $7.85 billion in the second quarter alone. Last year the company brought in a record $24 billion in profits. [2] But ExxonMobil isn't the only oil company to enjoy substantial profits this year. Between April and June of 2005, BP recorded profits of $5 billion, and ConocoPhillips earned $3.1 billion. [3]

"Does this sound like an industry that needs government subsidies?" asks Anna Aurilio, Legislative Director of U.S. PIRG. [4]

ExxonMobil and other oil giants will receive benefits under energy bill beyond direct federal financial help. The bill also loosens environmental protections and limits states' rights on siting and constructing liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities and pipelines, potentially giving ExxonMobil more sway over these decisions.

LNG facilities receive imported chilled natural gas from large tankers. To the alarm of local communities, studies show that a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker could severely burn people more than three-quarters of a mile away. With plans to deliver 15.6 million tons a year of LNG, ExxonMobil is working to build onshore LNG receiving terminals throughout Texas.

"The new energy law will make it easier for ExxonMobil to win approval for these and future LNG facilities even if the states or local communities object," says Aurilio. [5]

According to the new "Exxpose Exxon" report, the energy bill will also impose limits on states' power to influence decisions about offshore oil drilling projects, another change that could help ExxonMobil. Environmentalists worry that this will allow oil companies to gain easier access to coastal waters. Aera Energy, a joint venture of ExxonMobil and Shell, owns more than half of the 36 undeveloped leases along the California coast and is one of the largest drillers in the Gulf of Mexico. [6]

While the new energy law uses the American taxpayers' dollar to subsidize the oil industry, oil companies will be able to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and royalties, says the U.S. PIRG report. The law offers $1.7 billion in tax breaks and millions in "royalty relief" programs to make oil and gas development cheaper and more profitable. [7]

The law also offers up to $1.5 billion in new subsidies to the oil industry for ultra-deepwater oil drilling and exploration. This offer could benefit ExxonMobil in particular, because it is an industry leader in deepwater development. ExxonMobil estimates that deepwater oil and gas will account for more than 20 percent of its production by 2010. [8]

U.S. PIRG's Aurilio asserts that ExxonMobil should use the vast benefits it will enjoy from the energy bill to "craft a new energy policy strategy that goes beyond drilling to the last drop at any cost." [9]

The Exxpose Exxon campaign urges the American public to refuse to buy the company's gas, products, or stocks, and encourages ExxonMobil stockowners to use their leverage to change the company's environmental policies.

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SOURCES:

[1] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," U.S. PIRG, Aug. 3, 2005.

[2] Exxpose Exxon press release, Jul. 28, 2005.

[3] "Big Money to Big Oil: How ExxonMobil and the Oil Industry Benefit from the 2005 Energy Bill," U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Aug. 2005.

[4] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," op. cit.

[5] Ibid.

[6] "Big Money to Big Oil," op. cit.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," op. cit.