Exxon Mobil Lends Its Support to a Carbon Tax Proposal
“None of those has gotten very far,” Mr. Gerrard said, but “there continues to be talk of more.”
Mr. Gerrard added, “If a sufficiently high carbon tax were imposed, it could accomplish a lot more for fighting climate change than liability suits.”
The Climate Leadership Council’s plan sets an initial tax of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide
produced, which would add 36 cents to the cost of each gallon of gasoline sold.
By JOHN SCHWARTZJUNE 20, 2017
Exxon Mobil, other oil companies and a number of other corporate giants will announce on Tuesday
that they are supporting a plan to tax carbon emissions that was put forth this year by a group of Republican elder statesmen.
In a statement, the current chief executive of Exxon Mobil, Darren W. Woods, said the company was “encouraged” by the climate group’s proposal, which “aligns
closely with our longstanding principles.” A company spokesman said the liability component of the plan was not part of the company’s decision to endorse it.
And to protect American companies, the plan would introduce so-called border adjustments, intended
to increase the cost of goods coming from nations that do not have a similar carbon tax.
Michael B. Gerrard, the director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School
and an expert on climate litigation, said there had been four suits brought against energy companies over climate change, including one brought by the eroding Arctic coastal town of Kivalina, Alaska.
