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Exxon Mobil wants you to know that it cares about poor African children. Several are featured in a recent TV ad touting Exxon’s donations to a charitable effort in Africa to fight malaria. Chevron wants you to know that it’s a caring corporation, too. It’s running a TV ad touting its concern about alternative energy, featuring a touching tagline that says: “This isn’t just about oil companies. This is about you and me.”
Why the push to show Big Oil’s gentle side? Because new profit figures show yet another quarter of the ongoing money grab by these giants. Exxon’s take for the three summer months, for example, was nearly $15 billion – the most profit of any corporation in history. So the money grabbers are putting on masks of altruism, hoping we won’t notice their pockets bulging with our dollars – and hoping we won’t demand that Congress take away the billions of dollars they get each year in tax subsidies.
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To see the true heart of the oil barons, however, don’t look at their ads – look at their production numbers. While prices rose in the past year, pinching consumers hard, the big refiners deliberately cut back on gasoline production to hold prices up. While diesel shortages were squeezing the economic life out of U.S. truckers, the refiners ignored domestic need because they could get a higher price by shipping American diesel to Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
Worse, though, is Big Oil’s failure to use its windfall profits for development of new oil supplies. The corporations claim that they need enormous profits in order to explore for oil – yet last year the Big Five spent only $10 billion on exploration, while dumping $55 billion into the pockets of their top executives and major investors.
Oil company image ads aren’t fooling anyone. Their attempts to appear touchie-feelie are as hopeless as hanging an air freshener on the tail of a hog.
“ Exxon’s $14.83 billion income in quarter sets U.S. record,” Austin American Statesman, October 31, 2008.
“Chevron Gifts Top $37 Million,” Austin American Statesman, October 31, 2008.
“Oil companies ad blitz strives to polish image,” Austin American Statesman, October 30, 2008.