Mobil CEO Lucio A. Noto got testy yesterday when enviros suggested that the company’s planned merger with Exxon, approved overwhelmingly by stockholders yesterday, would create an environmentally irresponsible monster. Noto lit into the Kyoto climate change treaty, saying Exxon and Mobil oppose it and that it’s “not worth the paper that it’s written on.” He continued, “Forgive me for getting emotional, but I don’t like to see Mobil characterized as raping the environment or only being concerned with the bottom line.” At the stockholders’ meetings of both Exxon and Mobil, motions to have the companies create committees to report publicly on how they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions were defeated. Exxon and Mobil’s $81.2 billion merger, which still needs approval from regulators, would create the world’s largest oil company.
