In a breakthrough shareholder action, 28 percent of Chevron shareholders voted in favor of requiring the company to track its greenhouse gas emissions and assess the resulting financial liabilities. Exxon, Ford, GM, Allegheny Power and Reynolds face similar actions. Last year, a comparable measure at Exxon carried 7.6 percent of shareholder vote.
The resolution, sponsored by investors representing major religious groups, asked Chevron to document actions by the company or its trade associations “promoting the view that the issue of climate change is exaggerated, not real, or that
global warming may be beneficial.” The Chevron vote indicates significant concern among investors but it is not legally binding.
The vote constitutes 183 million of Chevron’s 650 million voting shares. “This vote should make companies like Exxon and others very nervous,” said Sister Patricia Daly, of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, New Jersey. “Like Chevron, they must start factoring global warming into their long term plans or risk being outpaced by more forwarding-looking competitors.”
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