The Rockefeller Family Fund has stated the Exxon Mobil Corp has misled the public about risks related to climate change and thus it would "eliminate holdings" from Exxon Mobil Corp and divest from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
 
Although only a modest $130 million of its assets are invested in fossil fuels, the move by the charity has made sizeable ripples since almost a century ago, John D. Rockefeller Sr. made a fortune with Standard Oil, a precursor to Exxon Mobil.
 
The Rockefeller Family Fund has stated it would also divest from Canadian oil sands and coal. Given the threat of survival of natural ecosystems and that of the human species, it has said "there is no sane rationale for companies to continue to explore for new sources of hydrocarbons."
 
A letter posted on its website states that Exxon's conduct on climate change related issues appears to be "morally reprehensible."
 
When asked to react to the Rockefeller statement, Alan Jeffers, a spokesman from Exxon Mobil said, "It's not surprising that they're divesting from the company."
 
 
He went on to add, "The Rockefeller Family Fund provided financial support to InsideClimate News and Columbia University Journalism School which produced inaccurate and deliberately misleading stories about ExxonMobil's history of climate research."
 
Lee Wasserman, the Director of the Rockefeller Family Fund responded to Exxon’s comments by stating the fact that Exxon was not the only company to be mentioned in its letter.
 
"We supported public interest journalism to better understand how the fossil fuel industry was dealing with the reality of climate science internally and publicly. No specific company was targeted in our push to drive better public understanding and better climate policy," said Wasserman.
 
In 2015, after reports starting emerging of Exxon’s conduct, New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, had launched an investigation into whether the company misled the public and its shareholders on the risks related to climate change.
 
Yesterday, Exxon stated that those stories "wrongly suggested that we had reached definitive conclusions about the risks of climate change decades before the world's experts and while climate science was in an early stage of development."
 
Exxon Mobil has now said that the threat of climate change is very real and warrants action.
 
In 2008 itself, members of the Rockefeller family had called on Exxon to increase its research into alternative fuels. The current move by the Rockefeller Family Fund isn’t at all surprising since in 2014 itself, a fund associated with the family, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), had disclosed that it would divest from fossil fuels.
 
U.S. oil prices fell by 4% yesterday. Shares of Exxon Mobil also fell by 04% to $83.75.
 
 

In what has been seen as a sign of defeat for the world’s biggest publicly traded oil producer, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has ruled that Exxon Mobil Corp will have to include a climate change resolution on its annual shareholder proxy. On its part, Exxon has argued that it has already provided adequate carbon related disclosures.
 
In its letter to Exxon, the SEC has said stated that the oil giant cannot keep the NY state’s comptroller’s proposal from reaching its shareholders for a vote at its annual meeting in May.
 
If the proposal is approved by the shareholders it would force Exxon to outline specific risks related to climate change or legislature designed to curb it, for it to operate profitably.
 
On its part, Exxon has argued the proposal that it received was very vague. Moreover it already provides its shareholders with carbon-related information, which includes a 2014 report on its website with the title "Energy and Carbon – Managing the Risks."
 
The SEC has countered saying information provided by the company does not go far enough.
 
"It does not appear that Exxon Mobil's public disclosures compare favorably with the guidelines of the proposal," wrote Justin Kisner, an attorney-adviser with the SEC, to Exxon Mobil.
 
"We'll be communicating the board's recommendations on shareholder resolutions through the proxy document next month," said Alan Jeffers, Exxon’s spokesman.
 
Given the above scenario, Exxon’s shareholders have so far never approved a climate related proposal. In fact last year they overwhelmingly rejected a request that a climate change expert be appointed in its board of directors. Thus, it is unclear how the SEC proposal will play out.
 
In spite of this, Thomas DiNapoli, the New York state Comptroller who oversees the state's $178.3 billion pension fund, portrayed the decision taken by the SEC as a "major victory" for shareholders.
 
"Investors need to know if Exxon Mobil is taking necessary steps to prepare for a lower carbon future, particularly now in the wake of the Paris agreement," said DiNapoli in a statement, in reference to the Paris accord.
 
As expected, environmentalists have cheered the SEC's decision.
 
"The SEC has rejected Exxon's attempt to silence investors' concerns about the very real financial risks associated with climate change," said Shanna Cleveland of Ceres, a nonprofit group that tracks environmental records of public companies.
 
Battle Hardened Exxon Mobil
The fight with the SEC is one of many fights Exxon Mobil is facing in carbon related battles. This includes an enquiry by Eric Schneiderman, NY’s Attorney General, into whether the company misled shareholders and the public on climate change related risks facing the company.
 
With Schneiderman subpoenaing the company for a treasure trove of records, Exxon Mobil has hired Theodore V. Wells, Jr., a star attorney. He has fought companies for years on various issues including climate change. In fact, last year he settled an eight year old investigation with Peabody Energy, a coal company, which forced it to amend its climate change disclosures so as to make them more robust.
 
In another significant development, the Rockefeller Family Fund has disclosed that it will divest itself from fossil fuels as quickly as possible and thus "eliminate holdings" of Exxon.
 
Exxon Mobil’s share fell by 0.2% after the SEC ruling in after-hours trading to $83.63.