By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-712300.mp3
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: Dozens of protesters outside the Meyerson Symphony Center chanted Support the troops, boycott Exxon, and Exxon Mobil is a war profiteer. Nick Mottern, with Consumers for Peace dot org, says research shows stunted Iraqi oil production, and instability from the war, has driven gas prices sky high.
Nick Mottern, Director, Consumers for Peace.org: Over the course of this war, the last 5 years, Exxon Mobil has accumulated more than 40 billion dollars in excess windfall war profits.
Zeeble: Inside the shareholders meeting, descendants of Exxon's 19th century founder John D. Rockefeller, pushed hard for a chairman - CEO split and for heavy investments into new energy technologies. Rockefeller's great-great grandson Peter O'Neill, speaking for many relatives, first praised Exxon Mobil and Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO, then urged change.
Peter O'Neill,great-great grandson of John D. Rockefeller: It's crucial for every company to ask, is it doing all it can to prepare for the future. The Rockefeller family believes now is the time for Exxon Mobil, with its strong financial performance, to take long term steps needed to increase shareholder value . All of Exxon Mobil strengths is no guarantee it'll remain flexible and visionary in light of changing energy realities that lie ahead. That's why we want an independent chair.
Zeeble: Rockefeller family members were merely the highest profile stockholders calling for change. Institutional investors including those with multi billion dollar state pension funds cited other huge energy companies with a separate board chair and a separate Chief Operating officer. Tracey Rembert read a statement from Connecticut's State Treasurer, with millions of Exxon Mobil shares.
Tracey Rembert, reading statement from Connecticut State Treasurer: The board owes it to shareholders and to the company's future to listen. The current governance and management culture, however well it may have served Exxon Mobil in the past, is allowing the chair to turn a deaf ear.
Zeeble: None of it mattered in the end. The company favored NO proposals, and with 4 and a half million shareholder ballots cast and counted, the measure to create a separate chairman and CEO failed with 60 and half percent rejecting it, slightly more than last year. Proposals to report on local environmental impacts failed 89 percent to 11. Still Tillerson acknowledged these issues arise again and again.
Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Chair, CEO: It re-emphasizes efforts to communicate better with shareholders, public and policy makers. We have had a substantial effort to better understand our views on important issues of the day.
Zeeble: Perhaps the most important issue on citizens minds is the price of gas at the pump. Tillerson said most of his company's profit doesn't come from the pump price, but the on the production and exploration side, where there's high risk.
Tillerson: 70 percent of our earnings are made outside the u.s. The important thing again is we realize this is a burden for people . What we can do is work on the supply side. What they have to do is work on the demand side by being efficient.
Zeeble: Meanwhile, he says, Exxon Mobil will continue enormous 125 billion dollar investments over the next 5 years to find more oil and gas. While he says the company's also investing in more efficient uses of energy, he adds that most of the world's energy needs in 25-30 years will still be met by fossil fuels. Bill Zeeble KERA news. Bzeeble@Kera.Org