
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna urged US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron to follow in the footsteps of their European rivals in planning to cut production to address the climate crisis.
“Are you embarrassed as an American company that your production is going up while European counterparts are going down?” Khanna asked Chevron CEO Michael Wirth.
The Chevron boss responded by pointing out that demand for energy is going up around the world.
Khanna cited calls from the United Nations and the International Energy Agency to cut oil and gas production to save the planet.
When Khanna asked if Chevron would commit to lowering production, Wirth declined to do so.
“With all due respect, I’m very proud of our company and what we do,” Wirth said.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods similarly declined to commit to reducing production of oil.
“We are committed to lowering our emissions,” Woods said.
The answers contrasted with those from the executives of BP and Shell, who acknowledged that their companies do plan to reduce production of oil and gas.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan slammed the line of questioning from Khanna, noting that Democrats have also pushed OPEC to pump more oil to combat high gasoline prices.
“That may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jordan said. “What does the gentleman want? $8 gasoline?”