The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that after coming under attack from both environmentalists and investors in the first half of his seven-year tenure at the helm of Exxon Mobil, Darren Woods is on the offensive. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that already this year, Mr. Woods has filed an arbitration case against Chevron for trying to buy into Exxon's massive offshore oil project in Guyana and a lawsuit against investors demanding his company cut emissions. Just months earlier, he agreed to a $60-billion (U.S.) takeover that would make Exxon the biggest shale producer in the United States.
Mr. Woods argues that fossil fuels will still be needed for years to come to meet energy demand and the world is not on a path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 because people are unwilling to pay for cleaner alternatives. The message may be controversial, but it is resonating on Wall Street, where "ESG" is fast becoming a loathed moniker as ambitious environmental, social and governance pledges are rubbing against the need for secure and affordable energy. Exxon is up 89 per cent, more than four times that of the S&P 500, since losing a climate-fuelled proxy battle with Engine No. 1 LP in 2021.
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