Now ExxonMobil Wants To Talk About Structure Of Carbon Caps, Maintain "Uncertainty" On Climate - WSJ

[hatrack]

In one of the strongest signs yet that the U.S. industry anticipates government curbs on global-warming emissions, Exxon Mobil Corp., long a leading opponent of such rules, is starting to talk about how it would like them to be structured. Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company by market value, long has been a lightning rod in the global-warming debate. Its top executives openly have questioned the scientific validity of claims that fossil-fuel emissions are warming the planet, and it has funded outside groups that have challenged such claims in language sometimes stronger than the company itself has used.

Those actions have prompted criticism of the company by environmentalists and by Democrats, who recently gained control of the Congress. Now, Exxon has cut off funding to a handful of those outside groups. It says climate-science models that link greenhouse-gas concentrations to global warming are getting more reliable. And it is meeting in Washington with officials of other large corporations to discuss what form the companies would prefer possible U.S. carbon regulations to take.

The changes in Exxon's words and actions are nuanced. The oil giant continues to note uncertainties in climate science. It continues to oppose the Kyoto Protocol, the international global-warming treaty that limits emissions from industrialized countries that have ratified it. It also stresses that any future carbon policy should include developing countries, where emissions are rising fastest.

Still, the company's subtle softening is significant and reflects a gathering trend among much of U.S. industry, from utilities to automakers. While many continue to oppose caps, these companies expect the country will impose mandatory global-warming-emission constraints at some point, so they are lining up to try to shape any mandate so they escape with minimum economic pain

EDIT

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/BC7776F0CC67D5918625726900167B66?OpenDocument

Isn't that just precious?!?!

[Gman]

1. It's the tried and true

do it now and have some say so in what it looks like rather than do nothing and later have it imposed on you.