In response to Fandango’s Who Won the Week post, I have been looking at my own newsfeeds.
Greenpeace won the week. Here’s why:
Keith McCoy was described as a senior lobbyist, in Washington, DC, for Exxon Mobil. I’m not sure how “senior” he is after this.
He was duped by Greenpeace into thinking he was being headhunted, and during the course of the videocall, all sorts of dirty secrets came out. not only how Exxon is dabbling in internal US politics, but also how it influenced foreign policy, specifically its role in watering down sanctions against Russia, because such sanctions would harm Exxon’s commercial interests.
A company, just looking out for its shareholder interests, right? If you look at this from that point of view, they did nothing wrong.
But dictating policy? That’s why companies don’t carry the same weight as individuals.
This video came about thanks to Greenpeace UK, and was picked up by news outfit Channel 4. It’s not really surprising to hear any of this, but interesting because it is Exxon talking about Exxon.
Incidentally, Exxon’s initial response was to complain that Greenpeace was victimising it. A day later, it apologised. Apoligies aren’t enough.
