Chronology of our Campaign

In spite of Greenpeace's campaign and similar concerns expressed by many other organizations and leaders around the world, ExxonMobil has refused to take action to combat climate change. Instead, ExxonMobil has spent money on deceptive advertising, touting its concern for the environment, as well as using tactics, including legal action against many Greenpeace offices and its activists, designed to silence global efforts to expose ExxonMobil's polluted environmental record.

Below is a timeline of Greenpeace's efforts and Exxon's evasive and hostile response:

April 2001: Greenpeace Executive Directors Contact ExxonMobil CEO
The executive directors of Greenpeace in the United States and Greenpeace International in Amsterdam send letters to ExxonMobil executives asking the company to clarify its position on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change.  The company faxes a form letter to both Greenpeace offices stating that it had published its position in advertisements that ran in major newspapers across the country. In these advertisements, ExxonMobil denounced the Kyoto Protocol, calling the climate regulation "too much, too soon."  ExxonMobil's position would later be adopted as the outline for the Bush administration's energy policy.

August 2001: A Boycott is Born
In several countries, Greenpeace is at the forefront of a global movement to boycott ExxonMobil products. As a result of college students and community activists holding protests and teach-ins around the country, a boycott of ExxonMobil begins to take force and goes global. In Germany, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Australia, France, Canada and other countries, consumers begin to boycott ExxonMobil/Esso's products. In the U.K. ,the number of consumers boycotting ExxonMobil/Esso gas skyrockets to more than one million.

May 2002: ExxonMobil's Undercover Dealings Exposed
Greenpeace United States releases evidence that ExxonMobil paid not only lobbyists but also supposedly impartial scientists to undermine and weaken environmental protections. Entitled "Denial and Deception: A Chronicle of ExxonMobil's Corruption of the Debate on Global Warming," the report details the company's role in international and U.S. climate policy, including attempts to stonewall the Kyoto Protocol.

July 2002: ExxonMobil Tries its Hand at Censorship
Esso sues Greenpeace in France, for the organization's parody of the Esso logo, written with dollar signs ($$) instead of "SS". A judge later upholds free speech, ruling in our favor.

September 2002: A Bad Brand and a Bad Investment
Greenpeace UK receives a leaked copy of a Deutsche Bank report to ExxonMobil. The confidential advisory states that the Greenpeace campaign against ExxonMobil was harmful to the Esso brand and therefore an investment risk. "While the company insists that it has suffered no fiscal impact from the (Greenpeace-led) boycott, being handed a reputation as environmental enemy number one for such a big customer-facing business has to be considered a brand risk."
 
October 2002: Greenpeace Shows Up at the Pumps

In the United States, hundreds of celebrities and local activists join Greenpeace at gas stations in New York and Los Angeles, where activists chain themselves to gas pumps, while in more than 20 other cities, protestors call on motorists to boycott ExxonMobil. Dressed in tiger suits or wearing "Don't Buy ExxonMobil" t-shirts, activists hand out information about the company's record while supporters cheer them on and motorists honk their horns in support.

That same month in Luxembourg, more than 600 activists peacefully shut down every Esso station in the country, including the largest Esso station in the world.  The company continues to ignore a global cry for clean energy initiatives and attempts to slap Greenpeace Luxembourg with over $245,000 in damages.

February 2003: We give Exxon Employees the Day Off
Greenpeace volunteers close down more than 100 Esso stations across the United Kingdom.  Another 100 volunteers peacefully block the entrance to the company's huge UK headquarters in Surrey, where more than 1,000 staff normally work. Esso sends its staff home in response.

March-May 2003: Speech Bubble Mania

Activists around the world participate in a visual petition where they take photographs of themselves holding speech bubbles saying things like “ExxonMobil: You won’t see this face again!” and mail the pictures to Exxon executives. In the months leading up to the company’s annual shareholders meeting, Exxon executives and board members receive over 40,000 photos.

May 2003: The Annual Distort
Greenpeace USA releases a spoof of the ExxonMobil annual report, and it causes a stir amongst financial leaders and the business community. The annual report generates articles in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine and Oil Daily.

May 2003: A Peaceful Protest Meets Police Hostility
Volunteers from as far away as Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom join Greenpeace USA at ExxonMobil's international headquarters in Irving, Texas, to protest the company's negative influence on climate change. Although the protest is peaceful, some of the volunteer protestors, including a Baptist minister and a mother and son, are pepper sprayed, arrested and locked up for two days in jail. All of the individuals are arrested for criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor. In addition, each individual is also charged with riot and/or engaging in organized criminal activity -- which are potential felonies. 

July 2003: An Irritated Tiger-ExxonMobil Lashes Out
In the wake of the May protest, ExxonMobil files a civil suit against both the U.S. and international Greenpeace entities and 38 individuals seeking injunctive relief and damages.   Greenpeace is able to resolve the matter out of court with all felony charges being dropped.

January 2004: French Court Upholds Freedom of Expression
In 2002, ExxonMobil tried to obtain an injunction and almost $100,000 for damages to its trademark against Greenpeace France. The suit stemmed from Greenpeace France's use on its Web site of a parody logo with a double dollar sign ($$) instead of the double "S" in Esso's logo. In January, a French court rejected the claims and ruled that Greenpeace France's Web site did not constitute a trademark infringement.

May 2004: Now Showing: Exxtreme Weather Events

On the eve of ExxonMobil's annual shareholder meeting, we project 100-foot images of floods, storms and other impacts of global warming where shareholders gathered the next day.  Our projections warned that the company's policies on global warming are a risk to their investment and the planet.

June 2004: The Secret's Out
Climate skeptics funded by ExxonMobil can no longer hide behind front groups. We launch a new Web site, www.exxonsecrets.org, to expose the links between ExxonMobil money and the think tanks, associations and individuals denying global warming.