MASSACHUSETTS — A batch of previously undisclosed documents was released earlier this year as part of the Massachusetts lawsuit against ExxonMobil.

The Massachusetts attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil in 2019. The state’s case argues that Exxon deceived consumers and investors into thinking it was taking action to limit warming when those efforts were primarily public relations. The state of Massachusetts is seeking fines and an injunction blocking Exxon’s allegedly deceptive practices.

An Exxon scientist testified in a deposition that a 2018 press release stating Exxon anticipated producing 10,000 barrels of algae biofuel per day by 2025 was misleading. The scientist testified that the 10,000-barrel-per-day algae biofuel target was "completely impossible to achieve." He also stated in deposition testimony that a research development on algae that Exxon publicly claimed as a breakthrough was "a dead end." The scientist testified that he informed others at the company that the algae biofuel target was impossible to achieve before the 2018 press release was issued. In deposition testimony, the scientist stated, "All the clauses in there are patently false." Exxon discontinued its research into algae biofuels.

Internal presentations from 2017 identified advertisements for algae biofuels and carbon capture as "All-Around Winners" in terms of performance. In 2017, an Exxon scientist stated he was "not a big fan" of the company's claim that it was a leader in carbon capture technology. The scientist stated in 2017 that the company's carbon capture operations at gas processing plants "has nothing to do" with the type of carbon capture promoted for power plants and industrial facilities.

A 2014 Exxon presentation on its carbon capture portfolio listed challenges to reaching commercial scale, including the need for massive investment and high costs. The 2014 Exxon presentation stated that widespread carbon capture deployment would require a storage rate comparable to current oil and gas production. The 2014 Exxon presentation noted there were no market-based incentives for carbon capture technology. A 2021 internal Exxon presentation stated the objective of an advertising campaign targeting political and financial leaders was to get people to "believe ExxonMobil is committed to helping solve climate change." The 2021 internal Exxon presentation stated the campaign aimed to prove the company and carbon capture and storage "play an indispensable role in facilitating the transition to a lower carbon energy system." The 2021 internal Exxon presentation listed a proposed carbon capture hub in Houston under "what we’re doing," though Exxon no longer promotes the project.

Aaron Regunberg, director of climate accountability at Public Citizen, said the Massachusetts filings suggest "that we have seen just a sliver of the evidence that they actually have that they’ve spent decades knowingly deceiving the public about this crisis." Regunberg said, "They are really scared of the public finding out about this reality." Exxon stated in its annual securities filing, "We believe the legal and factual theories set forth in these proceedings are meritless and represent an inappropriate attempt to use the court system to usurp the proper role of policymakers in addressing the societal challenges of climate change."

What's New

In 2014, an Exxon presentation on carbon capture showed that widespread deployment would require a storage rate comparable to current oil and gas production, citing high costs and lack of market-based incentives. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments from Exxon and Suncor Energy regarding a lawsuit filed by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado.

Why It Matters

In June 1988, NASA climatologist James Hansen testified to Congress that the climate was warming and would continue to do so as long as humans emitted fossil fuel pollution. The United Nations established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in late 1988. Frank Sprow of Exxon’s corporate research department wrote in an internal memo weeks before the UN vote on the IPCC, "If a worldwide consensus emerges that action is needed to mitigate against Greenhouse gas effects, substantial negative impacts on Exxon could occur."