Activist and actor Jane Fonda criticised ExxonMobil’s environmental record at a fundraiser the oil company sponsored earlier this month.
In response, the US company’s Baton Rouge arm released a social media post that largely diverted from Fonda’s barbs but also criticized “negative remarks” from the “out-of-town guest speaker.”
According to TheAdvocate.Com of Baton Rouge, the Facebook post, which did not mention Fonda by name, mostly praised Barbara Beckmann, a 60-year ExxonMobil employee who was honoured at the YWCA Greater Baton Rouge fundraiser that the oil company sponsored. However, it made a passing reference to Fonda’s attacks on the company’s environmental footprint.
“Despite negative remarks by the out-of-town guest speaker, ExxonMobil Baton Rouge was proud to sponsor the event recognizing powerful women and their allies,” the post read.
“We will continue to support initiatives empowering women and are committed to providing energy products the world needs,” the post added.
Fonda was the headlining speaker at the YWCA Greater Baton Rouge’s “Empower the W” brunch at the Stadium Club in LSU’s Tiger Stadium. Some 530 people attended the event, according to YWCA Greater Baton Rouge officials.
Fonda runs the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, a political action committee that aims to fight the fossil fuel industry’s lobbying hold over the Congress, the report said.
The actress discussed her PAC at the YWCA event before turning to ExxonMobil. “I see one of your sponsors is ExxonMobil,” she said to murmured responses.
Fonda said ExxonMobil has disregarded the impact fossil fuels have on the environment. She said she plans to spend the next six months in Louisiana and Texas, which she described as “ground zero” for the global climate crisis.
The report said that audience members at the YWCA event looked shocked and let out audible gasps as Fonda attacked the event’s sponsor.
In a follow-up statement to The Advocate, ExxonMobil spokesperson Stephanie Cargile said company officials were “disappointed” by Fonda’s remarks.
“We encourage productive dialogue on important topics. However, targeting ExxonMobil at an event designed to honor women, including one of our 60+ year employees, was not appropriate or productive,” Cargile’s statement said, noting the company was “proud” to sponsor the event and will continue to support the YWCA.
The report noted that amid a broader global push to curb carbon dioxide emissions, heavy industrial emitters have come under fire from all directions to scale back their carbon footprint, including from investors and environmental justice groups.
The Baton Rouge refinery for ExxonMobil, which has long been a lightning rod for criticism from environmental groups, is Louisiana’s second-highest industrial emitter of greenhouse gases, according to LSU’s latest greenhouse gas inventory, The Advocate said.
In January 2022, ExxonMobil announced a framework for reducing its emissions to “net zero” by 2050, including equipment upgrades, methane mitigation and eliminating routine flaring.
The company is also part of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s carbon reduction alliance, which aims to bring industrial companies together to push for lower-carbon energy projects.