John S. Watson Rex W. Tillerson Ryan M. Lance Chevron ExxonMobil ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard P.O. Box 2197 San Ramon, CA 94583 Irving, Texas 75039-2298 Houston, TX 77252-2197 Robert Warren "Bob" Dudley Ben van Beurden Glenn Kellow BP Shell Peabody Energy Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer 501 Westlake Park Boulevard P.O. Box 2463 701 Market Street Houston, TX 77079 Houston, TX 77252 St. Louis, MO 63101-1826 December 7, 2015 Dear Chief Executive Officers, As members of Congress concerned about climate change and the devastating effects it is having and will continue to have on our planet, we are alarmed by reports stating that Exxon (becoming ExxonMobil in 1999) hid the truth about the role of fossil fuels in influencing climate change and intentionally spread disinformation about climate science. Investigations by the Los Angeles Times1 and Inside Climate News2 allege that Exxon scientists confirmed fossil fuels’ role in climate change decades ago, but top executives decided to hide the truth and instead embarked on a massive campaign of denial and disinformation. An investigation by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has concluded that ExxonMobil was not alone in hiding knowledge of climate change while spreading disinformation about climate science. UCS concluded there was a “coordinated campaign of deception” on climate science by “ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, Shell, Peabody Energy, and other members of the fossil fuel industry.”3 The UCS investigation specifically found the following:4  “Fossil fuel companies have intentionally spread climate disinformation for decades.”  “Fossil fuel company leaders knew that their products were harmful to people and the planet but still chose to actively deceive the public and deny this harm.”  “The campaign of deception continues today.” UCS uncovered many internal company documents which appear to confirm a coordinated campaign of deception conducted by the industry to deceive the public of climate science that even their own scientists confirmed. These actions included “forged letters to Congress, secret funding of a supposedly independent scientist, the creation of fake grassroots organizations, [and] multiple efforts to deliberately manufacture uncertainty about climate science.”5 Given the information that has come to light from multiple investigations, we request that you answer the following questions: • When did your company first become aware that using fossil fuels could result in climate change and warming of the planet? • What did your company do with this information? • Did your company fund organizations that denied climate change or sought to spread uncertainty about climate change? • Did your company oppose the Kyoto Protocol? • What state and federal legislation to mitigate climate change has your company opposed? • Did your company, or organizations your company funded, forge letters to Congress regarding climate change? • Did your company, or organizations your company funded, secretly fund a supposedly independent scientist or scientists to deny or spread uncertainty about climate change? • Did your company, or organizations your company funded, create fake grassroots organizations to deny or spread uncertainty about climate change? • Did your company, or organizations your company funded, promote uncertainty about climate science? • Is your company continuing to fund misinformation regarding climate science either directly or through third parties? • Will you release your company’s past scientific data and findings regarding climate change? • Does your company believe the use of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming? If yes, have you made public statements to that effect? • What state or federal legislation to mitigate climate change has your company supported? • Does your company support the science-based 2 degree Celsius temperature target to limit dangerous climate change? • What is your company's business plan for reducing emissions consistent with this safe climate target? Sincerely, ________________________ ________________________ Ted W. Lieu Peter Welch Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Keith Ellison Alan Grayson Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Jared Huffman Michael M. Honda Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ John Garamendi Matthew Cartwright Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Luis V. Gutiérrez Katherine Clark Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ James R. Langevin Raúl M. Grijalva Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Jared Polis Sam Farr Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Alan Lowenthal Mark Pocan Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Mark DeSaulnier Jim McDermott Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Zoe Lofgren Karen Bass Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ James P. McGovern Earl Blumenauer Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Judy Chu Barbara Lee Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Rosa DeLauro Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Anna G. Eshoo Grace Meng Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Seth Moulton Jerrold Nadler Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Paul D. Tonko Jackie Speier Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Dan Kildee Carolyn Maloney Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Bonnie Watson Coleman Gerald Connolly Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Lois Frankel Eleanor Holmes Norton Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Adam Schiff Betty McCollum Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Steve Cohen Jan Schakowsky Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ ________________________ Ted Deutch David N. Cicilline Member of Congress Member of Congress ________________________ Ruben Gallego Member of Congress Sara Jerving et al., “What Exxon Knew About the Earth’s Melting Arctic,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 9, 2015 and Katie Jennings et al., “How Exxon Went From Leader to Skeptic on Climate Change Research,” Los Angeles Times, Oct 23, 2015. 2 Neela Banerjee et al., “Exxon: The Road Not Taken,” Inside Climate News, Sep. 21, 2015. 3 Mulvey, Kathy, and Seth Shulman. "The Climate Deception Dossiers (2015)." 2015. Accessed October 25, 2015. 4 Id. 5 Id.