Exxon tells staff, retirees, and contractors how to vote in US presidential and congressional elections.
To compliment corporate front groups, lawsuits against critics,
and tireless lobbying against any global warming regulation, Exxon
is stepping up its efforts to get employees to vote
"pro-business".
According to a story reported by the Dow Jones Newswire, Exxon
is mailing its 34,000 employees with election materials and helpful
voter guides which -- surprise! --give the Republican Party gold
star ratings for spurning global warming regulation, supporting
drilling for oil in the Arctic wildlife refuge, and letting oil
refineries release more pollution by weakening the Clean Air
Act.
Exxon is informing not only its employees but also retirees and
contractors how they should vote in upcoming presidential and
congressional races across the US.
"We obviously are promoting candidates who are pro-business and
candidates who recognize the importance of a viable policy on
energy," Ken Cohen, the vice president for public affairs and the
chairman of ExxonMobil's PAC, said. "Republicans more often tend to
line up on those issues than Democrats."
In 2000 Exxon gave 91 percent (US$1.37 million) of it political
donations to the Republican Party. Exxon was more than amply repaid
when President GW Bush promptly withdrew the US from the only
global treaty to control global warming, the Kyoto Protocol.
In a message at ExxonMobils' Citizen Action Team
website, company CEO Lee Raymond states "it is essential that we as
a company, and more importantly as individuals, are part of the
political process." The website's front page quotes Thomas
Jefferson: "We in America do not have a government by the majority.
We have a government by the majority who participate."
Exxon to Greenpeace: Stay away
In the past, Greenpeace has
uncovered Exxon links to White House policymaking, we've exposed Exxon funding to front
groups debunking climate science. Greenpeace offices around the
world have taken direct, non-violent action to put the company's
war on the climate in check.
As a result, Exxon has secured court injunctions in several
countries to keep Greenpeace away from Exxon property. We're
actually really happy to do so, and we are asking you to do
likewise: please, everyone, stay away from ExxonMobil and Esso
properties! Under no circumstances should you go near any property
marked with an Exxon or Esso logo. To make sure we're all clear
about this, send a
message now promising Exxon that you'll stay away. Tell them
you won't buy their product, won't go near their pumps, and won't
contribute to the war chest that they are using to silence critics
and to battle the truth about global warming.
Don't buy ExxonMobil. Don't buy Esso.