Thanks for catching that story Martin. In other (not unrelated news), Exxon/Esso has posted record profits, again. The New York Daily News has my favorite sum up:
Black gold helped Exxon Mobil make a record-setting profit of $39.5 billion last year, but the gaudy number brought heat from lawmakers in Washington who want to end tax breaks for the highly lucrative biz.
The bonanza works out to more than $108 million per day, 24/7/ 365, and equals the gross domestic product of countries like Ecuador and Croatia.
Yes. I think ending tax breaks would be a good start. Oh, and if the headlines about Exxon's absurdly large profits look oddly familiar, it's because you've seen them before. (Yet, the US Congress is only now getting around to seriously talking about ending Exxon's tax breaks. Hmm, wonder why...)
In fairness, other oil companies, like Shell and Chevron, are also doing very well for themselves.
And what are they doing with these record profits? Not investing in alternatives to oil, according to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights:
Exxon, for instance, spent about $10 million on alternative energy last year, less than three-hundredths of one percent of its profit.