Even the Exxon CEO is telling Trump to reel it in on the environment.
Exxon Mobil chair and chief executive Darren Woods warned President-elect Donald Trump against withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement—as Trump has promised to do again—at the annual United Nations COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
“I don’t think the challenge or the need to address global emissions is going to go away. Anything that happens in the short term would just make the longer term that much more challenging,” the executive said in an interview with Politico.
The Exxon CEO warned about the danger of carbon border tariffs, in particular, which have been floated by some in Trump’s inner circle and would levy taxes on imports produced at a higher carbon emissions level than in the United States.
“I think it’s a bad idea. It’s a really bad idea,” said Woods. “I think carbon border adjustment is going to introduce a whole new level of complexity and bureaucratic red tape. I don’t think it’s going to be very effective.” He said he prefers a regulatory apparatus based on carbon intensity.
While Woods complained about Biden’s energy policies, he still warned Trump about making too dramatic a rightward shift on the climate issue in general.
“We all have a responsibility to figure out, given our capabilities and ability to contribute, how can we best do that,” Woods said. “How the Trump administration can contribute in this space is to help establish the right, thoughtful, rational, logical framework for how the world starts to try to reduce the emissions.”
The only problem is that Trump is completely uninterested in a “rational, logical framework.” The president-elect thinks climate change is a “hoax,” wants to “drill, baby drill,” and is sure to roll back any Biden-era environmental regulations, as he’s nominated climate denier Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.