Former Secretary of State and one-time Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson took the witness stand Wednesday to deny claims that he and the oil company hid the financial costs of climate change from investors.
Tillerson — who testified for 3 ½ hours in Manhattan Supreme Court — told the judge overseeing the bench trial that allegations he and Exxon carried out securities fraud were “false.”
The New York Attorney General filed suit in 2018 against the oil company, arguing that it used two sets of books to account for the financial impact of global warming — one kept internally and a more optimistic version that was released to the public.
The ousted Secretary of State — who worked for Exxon for decades, including 10 years as CEO — said he took climate change seriously and sought to accurately estimate its impact on the company and the industry.
“We knew it was a serious issue and it was going to be with us now and forever more,” Tillerson said when an Exxon lawyer cross-examined him. “We would have been irresponsible if we didn’t think about the implications of this.”
Tillerson said the gas giant tried to calculate the costs on both a “macro” and “micro” level.
The so-called macro level — which was disclosed to investors — estimated how global regulations on climate change could affect the energy industry over time, he said.
The micro level — greenhouse gas (GHG) costs — was an internal measure used by the company to estimate the price of specific projects due to local government regulations, Tillerson explained.
He added if they didn’t research the GHG costs “well we would be misinforming ourselves.” GHG wasn’t intentionally withheld from investors it was merely a tool used internally by the company.
When an AG lawyer asked Tillerson what role he had in helping the company deal with climate change, he said, “As the CEO I had broad responsibility for managing all risk, certainly the risk of climate change and how that might impact our strategy, daily decisions, and investment decisions.”
The AG’s office wants Exxon to pay investors between $476 million and $1.6 billion in restitution.