|
What we will witness is the usual theatre of the absurd staged by the
lunatics of the far-left led by self-anointed, radical environmentalists.
They will be joined by trade unionists, self-described anarchists, gay and
animal rights groups, semi-professional agitators, and fellow travelers whose
grasp of reality is limited to angry slogans and sound bites.
Designed to have the maximum media value, those kiddies in the streets of
Dallas will put on a good show and many of those reporting it are not likely
to use the words like "leftists" or "anarchists." Instead, they will be
described as "activists" or even "environmental advocates." In this way, many
Americans will be kept in the dark about their true agenda. Among the
scheduled events is a "mock trial" to convict the company of "crimes against
humanity and the environment." Give me a break!
"Campaign ExxonMobil" actually began on May 1st with a bogus "analysis"
issued by Claros Consulting of London, England, claiming that ExxonMobil's
"emissions imprint" (whatever that is?) on the environment is such that,
surely shareholders will demand they stop selling gas and oil, thus driving
the value of the energy giant's book value into the cellar. This is not going
to happen.
For the record, ExxonMobil has been conserving so much energy in their
refineries and chemical plants that these facilities are 37% more efficient
than 25 years ago. The company has been expanding co-generation facilities
and been researching new energy systems that have much lower carbon emissions
and increased fuel efficiency. When you employ more than 1,500 PhD's and
depend on scientific and technological excellence to stay competitive, you
tend to be on the cutting edge of such things.
Those PhDs, by the way, are part of a company with 98,000 employees in 200
countries and territories around the world. In the US alone, there are some
14,000 EM service stations. More to the point, ExxonMobil has been an
excellent investment for its shareholders, consistently outperforming the S&P
500 for more than three decades. As for their shareholders, the target of
"Campaign ExxonMobil", they have overwhelmingly voted against various Green
proposals in the past. And rightly so.
Does this matter to the dunces in the streets of Dallas? What they think they
know is that ExxonMobil's "emissions imprint" will bring about global
warming. What they refuse to acknowledge and what is rarely reported is that
the Earth hasn't warmed so much as one degree Fahrenheit in more than a half
century. Climate records indicate, in fact, a slight cooling.
"Campaign ExxonMobil" is sponsored and funded by the usual cabal of
eco-gangsters such as Greenpeace, the Green Party, Ralph Nader's PIRG, and
other enemies of corporate America. The real money will come from foundations
such as Rockefeller, Hewlett, Packard, and Pew. Based on the riches of their
founder, all capitalists to their toes, they have been taken over by
directors who have turned their vast wealth against the engines of
capitalism. They oppose free enterprise, progress, and the freedoms that
Americans have given their lives to defend.
You can expect to see members of the Ruckus Society on hand. This group,
funded in large part by billionaire Ted Turner, has trained thousands to show
up in places like Quebec or Seattle to rant, rage, battle with police and
trash local businesses in their quest to seek publicity for their extreme
left agenda.
According to U.S. News and World Report, one of the leaders of Ruckus is Mike
Roselle, an Earth First! radical and self-proclaimed revolutionary who, in
1995, said of his environmentalism, "this is Jihad, pal. There are no
innocent bystanders, because in these desperate hours, bystanders are not
innocent. We'll broaden our theater of conflict." One can only hope the
public will recognize these morons for the bugs on the backside of progress
that they are.
The time is long overdue for people to begin to understand that these
malcontents and America-bashers are the problem, not ExxonMobil, a company
that funds school and community programs, tiger conservation programs and
numerous other civic causes. The leftist loonies of the environmental
movement are beginning to wear out their welcome.
Think about that the next time you drive into a service station and say,
"Fill'er up!"
Alan Caruba is the author of "The United Nations Vs. The United States", for sale from the Internet site of The National Anxiety
Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Copyright, Alan Caruba, 2002
Published by permission.
|
