ExxonMobil, the world’s largest non-state oil company, is a member of hundreds of trade associations around the globe working to promote the interests of the oil and gas industry. So why did its recent departure from a single trade association make news? The answer concerns the history of disinformation shared by many oil and gas trade associations, and shareholders’ recent success in exposing—and pushing back against—their tactics.
In its recent Climate Lobbying Report, ExxonMobil announced it had withdrawn its membership in the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), a Washington, DC-based organization founded in 1929 to represent “independent,” i.e. smaller, oil and gas producers. The reason given for the 2022 withdrawal (lobbying reports lag by a year) is IPAA’s “misalignment” with ExxonMobil’s stated goal of “helping society achieve…
Read the full article originally published at blog.ucsusa.org.