Exxon CEO: 'What Good Is It to Save the Planet if Humanity Suffers?'

Exxon CEO: ‘What Good Is It to Save the Planet if Humanity Suffers?’

Environment • May 2013 • Views: 1,819

At Wednesday’s meeting for ExxonMobil shareholders in Dallas, CEO Rex Tillerson told those assembled that an economy that runs on oil is here to stay, and cutting carbon emissions would do no good.

He asked, “What good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers?”

One good would be that humanity has a habitable place to live. And in acting to stop the increasingly dangerous effects of climate change, we could avoid a great deal of suffering. Tillerson missed the billions of dollars in damages, thousands of lives lost, millions displaced, and rampant ecological destruction due to the carbon emissions that cause climate change.

More: Exxon CEO: ‘What Good Is It to Save the Planet if Humanity Suffers?’

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14 comments

Romantic Heretic Thu, May 30, 2013 11:09:38am

Proof positive that cognitive dissonance and willful ignorance exist at all levels of society.

nines09 Thu, May 30, 2013 11:14:52am

He asked, “What good is it to save the planet if humanity suffers?”
Could that be the most ignorant sentence to ever fall from the lips of a human? Basic math. Habitable saved planet=Humans. Wretched wasteland planet=Cockroaches.

Major Tom Thu, May 30, 2013 11:16:24am

I read this as, “Shoot the hostage.”

aagcobb Thu, May 30, 2013 11:57:48am

Sure, my grandchildren may die as the earth slowly turns into Venus. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make so I can keep driving my Hummer.

StephenMeansMe Thu, May 30, 2013 12:09:35pm

Sort of like a morbidly obese man saying “what good is diet and exercise if I have to sweat?”

Better temporary pain than heart failure.

BigPapa Thu, May 30, 2013 12:42:42pm

What a completely moronic thing to say. But I’m happy he’s being totally honest.

This guy is running one of the largest companies on the planet and he’s totally ignorant.

Awea Thu, May 30, 2013 1:08:06pm

re: #3 Major Tom

I read this as, “Shoot the hostage.”

More like Kill the hostage and the hostage’s family.

RealityBasedSteve Thu, May 30, 2013 1:47:03pm

Classic example of the fallacy of the excluded middle or a false dilemma. It makes it much easier to frame the problem when you eliminate all but two options. Not honest, but easier.

RBS
Give me LGF or give me a large mushroom pizza!

majii Thu, May 30, 2013 1:56:25pm

What good is there in destroying the planet and killing off your customers and having no one around to purchase your products? A knife can be used to cut more than one thing, you know.

EPR-radar Thu, May 30, 2013 2:04:51pm

re: #6 BigPapa

What a completely moronic thing to say. But I’m happy he’s being totally honest.

This guy is running one of the largest companies on the planet and he’s totally ignorant.

I’m not willing to assume this clown is being ignorant. Deliberate evil seems more accurate.

Tillerson is willing to knowingly contribute to death and disaster for all future generations by funding GW denial in order to line his own pockets.

That his behavior is perfectly legal and proper for a CEO of an energy company serves as a blistering indictment of the “way things are”.

Vicious Babushka Thu, May 30, 2013 2:07:56pm

If large portions of the earth become uninhabitable due to climate change, won’t humanity suffer? Or does this douche think anyone not in the 1% of the super-wealthy do not count as “humanity”?

His thinking is just like the wealthy passengers on the Titanic who locked the poor below decks to drown so they could have the lifeboats all to themselves.

Vicious Babushka Thu, May 30, 2013 2:10:31pm

How did somebody this stupid become the CEO of a major corporation?

JeffFX Thu, May 30, 2013 3:04:27pm

re: #12 Vicious Babushka

How did somebody this stupid become the CEO of a major corporation?

I’m with EPR. This is evil and greed, not stupidity. He can line his pockets and live in the big house at the expense of others.

Even the idea of saving the planet is misleading. Environmentalism is about keeping the planet inhabitable for humans. The planet will be just fine after the mass die-back the energy companies and Republicans are driving us toward.

aagcobb Thu, May 30, 2013 3:40:16pm

re: #11 Vicious Babushka