Exxon wants Congress to accept climate change, support carbon tax, Wall Street Journal reports

By Jennifer Larino, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune  updated July 06, 2016 at 12:48 PM

Exxon Mobil Corp. is ramping up lobbying efforts urging politicians and the U.S. oil and gas industry as a whole to accept that climate change is real and that a tax on carbon is the best way to address the problem, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The report says Exxon has long favored a straightforward, "revenue neutral" tax on extracted carbon -- including oil and gas -- over what it sees as complicated rules, regulations or trading schemes that would otherwise seek to curb carbon emissions. Only recently has Exxon taken an active position in advocating for a tax.

The report notes the increased lobbying comes as state attorneys general in Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands investigate whether Exxon conspired to hide what it knew about global warming and its impact.

Landrieu told the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority that global warming threatens the existence of New Orleans.

Exxon, a large natural gas producer, may also have a financial motive in advocating a carbon tax, which would likely increase costs for competing coal producers, the report says.

The carbon tax idea faces steep opposition in Congress. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana has led efforts to introduce resolutions condemning a carbon tax and the global climate deal reached in Paris last December.

An Exxon spokesman tells the Wall Street Journal the heightened political debate has pushed the company to be more vocal. Exxon joins Royal Dutch Shell and BP in publicly supporting a price on carbon.