ExxonMobil can prove “we’re all in this together.”
Why I am Calling on Corporations to Help Save New Jersey.
by David Applefield
RED BANK April 29 As a candidate for US Congress here in New Jersey’s 4th district I am breaking ranks with traditional campaigning today and making a public plea to Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, to show “we’re in all this together” by contributing $4.5 billion to the state of New Jersey to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
ExxonMobil has long had a special connection to New Jersey. The oil giant, created when John D. Rockefeller’s legacy Standard Oil of New Jersey merged with Standard Oil of New York, still maintains over 110 gas stations and numerous research facilities in the state. New Jersey, meanwhile, has been generous with ExxonMobil — in 2015, the Christie administration agreed to settle a decades-old claim for $8.9 billion in damages from contamination of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands and marshes in the Raritan River basin for just $225 million, three percent of the company’s looming fine.
I am calling on ExxonMobil to be good corporate citizens and pay it forward in the time of a dire pandemic. ExxonMobil cleared a profit of $21 billion in 2018 and $14 billion in 2019. I’m calling on them now simply to pay half of the $9 billion fine they faced for damaging the state to help the citizens of New Jersey survive the pandemic.
CEO Darren Woods enjoyed a 25 percent raise in 2019 with a total compensation of $23.5 million, about $11,100 an hour. If Mr. Woods would donate even half of his hefty compensation to the state, $12 million would go a long way toward providing protective personal equipment for nurses, doctors, and EMS workers.
The COVID-19 emergency has had an especially deadly impact in New Jersey. As Governor Murphy has pointed out, the pandemic is propelling the state into bankruptcy, and without more funding, the state will “not be able to meet its obligations to towns to provide the services needed for our safety — namely police, healthcare workers, and other first responders.”
Other major corporations in the state should be stepping voluntarily to help save New Jersey in this time of emergency as well. And ExxonMobil should lead the way.”
I am proud of my history of generating creative solutions to environmental problems, and now with this request to ExxonMobil I am launching a comprehensive drive to generate $10 billion for the state by asking corporations who have benefited from tax credits and subsidies and have otherwise profited from New Jersey business tax breaks to make substantial contributions. The fund should be called CPR for Corporate Pandemic Rescue fund, and should connect with the NJ Pandemic Relief Fund, which First Lady Tammy Murphy launched with support from native celebrities Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Whoppi Goldberg, and Jon Stewart. ExxonMobil should take the lead in coordinating the corporate rescue of New Jersey. Let ExxonMobil’s legacy here not be one of pollution but of being an exemplary corporate citizen. I’d like to be able to fill up my car next time at an ExxonMobil station knowing that this company stands for a lot more than the fossil fuel I put in the tank.
New Jerseyans have rightly been quick to honor our frontline heroes. But now, it’s time to ask our wealthiest and most privileged individuals and corporations to share in the sacrifice. Let’s show we really are all in this together.
