You'd think that Exxon shareholders would be pretty damn happy about rising gas prices (in terms of the company's alt. fuel investments) and the fact that the energy giant booked $11.7b worth of profits in the first financial quarter of the year. That should go double for the Rockefeller family, whose unimaginable lifestyle is supported by their Exxon stock. But nooooooooo. The New York Times reports that the Rockefeller family have thrown their weight behind a "shareholder rebellion" aimed at pushing Exxon further and faster towards an alt fuel future. "The resolutions ask Exxon to take the threat of global warming more seriously and look for alternatives to spewing [sic] greenhouse gases into the air. One resolution would urge the company to study the impact of global warming on poor countries, another would encourage Exxon to reduce its emissions and a third would encourage it to do more research on renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines." Yes, “Exxon Mobil needs to reconnect with the forward-looking and entrepreneurial vision of my great-grandfather,” Neva Rockefeller Goodwin announced in a statement. “The truth is that Exxon Mobil is profiting in the short term from investments and decisions made many years ago, and by focusing on a narrow path that ignores the rapidly shifting energy landscape around the world."
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Translation: “Hey, why can’t we fleece the environmentalists by selling them ripoff green technology like everyone else?”
That’s $11.7b profits, not $117b :O.
tree
Misplaced decimal. Text amended.
@ seoultrain:
Ding! Ding! Ding!!!
Or better yet they realize that profits like this may not last forever so invest now before it is too late to do so.
I’m sure the Rockefellers are all driving hybrids! Right, as soon as someone builds hybrid limos! Their nothing but elitists.
This alternative energy push has happened before. Oil companies flush with record profits invested in all sorts of technologies.
The last time oil was north of $100/bbl Arco got into the photovoltaic business. It fizzled for a while then they sold it off to Siemens, who sold it to Shell.
At some point in the future other drive train technologies besides Internal combustion are going gel and have mass market appeal. The trick is guessing WHEN. Arrive too early and you will have a cash sucking underperformer.
While solar electricity is not ready for prime-time yet, wind farms could be a good diversification strategy for EM.
Why do they think that Exxon would be good at any of the things they want it to do.
They should be happy that Exxon knows how to run the business that it is in. There are a lot of companies that don’t have that knack.
If they think that capital should be invested in alt-fuels, or shoe manufacture, or any other business, they can take the dividends and sales proceeds from their Exxon stock, and invest that money in whatever they want to invest it in.
In summary, the answer to the Rockefellers is: “Put your money where your mouth is.”
If companies like GM and others had major stockholders telling the board to spend more time looking toward what the future might bring, they may be a lot better off now. After all, the company does belong to the shareholders.
She is an environmentalist, a philanthropist, and from the looks of it another planet. Sorry. Couldnt resist. Maybe she, along with Rottenbob, might be the only two people wanting to buy a Pontiac G3.
seabrjim,
Apparently, 10 year old Geo Metros are selling for $7,500. In this kind of world, a $12K Aveo rebadged as a Pontiac makes sense, I guess.
The $7500 metro people will be the next idiots after the diesel knuckleheads. Dont be rash, the prices will stabilize as more jobs disappear. The greatest country in the world. Not.