Direct Lobbying Transparency
Overall Assessment | Comment | Score |
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Comprehensive | ExxonMobil provides extensive, policy-specific detail about its climate-related advocacy. It names a wide range of instruments it has engaged on, including federal bills such as “H.R. 1512, the CLEAN Future Act,” “S. 986, the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Tax Credit Amendments Act of 2021,” provisions of the U.S. “Inflation Reduction Act” (e.g., the 45Q and 45V tax credits), state measures like “California SB 253 and SB 261,” Alaska’s “SB 114,” federal and EU draft methane rules, Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation, the “Global Methane Pledge,” and the U.S. “National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap.” The company also discloses how it lobbies: it files comment letters and applications to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testifies at EPA workshops, submits recommendations to the European Commission, participates in advisory bodies such as the National Petroleum Council, and deploys in-house and contract lobbyists for “face-to-face, virtual, and one-on-one meetings” with identified targets that include the “U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, White House Office, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management” and their European counterparts. It supplements direct engagement with indirect channels through trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute and coalitions such as the Climate Leadership Council. Finally, ExxonMobil is explicit about the changes it wants: it urges “a coordinated and transparent economy-wide price on carbon,” seeks “expanded 45V language to incentivize the use of low-carbon-intensity natural gas as a hydrogen feedstock,” calls for “comprehensive, enhanced rules to reduce methane emissions,” and advocates that “funding available under the federal carbon capture and storage tax credit should be expanded.” It has even offered its own “Model Regulatory Framework” for methane control and supports extending the IRA’s hydrogen credit from 10 to 20 years. By naming concrete policies, describing the exact channels and decision-makers it targets, and stating clear legislative or regulatory outcomes, the company demonstrates a comprehensive level of transparency around its climate-policy lobbying. | 4 |