Are Oil and Gas CEOs Getting Paid to Pollute?
09.20.17
Washington, D.C. – Food & Water Watch recently examined the financial disclosure forms of the nine publically-traded American oil and gas companies, along with reports tallying the greenhouse gas emissions footprint at each of these companies. The analysis shows that almost without exception, the more carbon emissions the company produced in 2015, the more the CEO got paid in 2016.
Together, the nine CEOs of the companies examined were paid more than $150 million last year to emit 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere – about $88,000 per million metric tons.
High atop both the executive pay and carbon emissions list is former Exxon CEO and current Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson.
“The correlation we found between CEO pay and climate-altering emissions speaks volumes as to why climate denial—led in large part over the decades by ExxonMobil—is so rampant among policymakers with close ties to the industry,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “But we are at a point where we can’t continue business as usual. Luckily we now have leaders in Congress that are guided by the science, and who are stepping up to address the climate crisis.”
View the full analysis and infographic.
Food & Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all. We stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment.
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Contact: Darcey Rakestraw, 202-683-2467; [email protected]
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