Exxon The Road Not Taken Archives

Exxon Cordoba Hydrid-Gas Electric Car Technology Brochure (1978)

As part of its advanced battery program in the 1970s, Exxon had developed electric motor technology to be used in a hybrid-gas electric vehicle. In 1978, the EEI automotive team created a brochure that showed off to automakers the hybrid prototype Exxon had built with its ACS technology: a Chrysler Cordoba, which got 27 miles per gallon. That was the mileage target that the Environmental Protection Agency required of vehicles by 1985.

At the time, the American auto industry grappled with the tough new mileage standards they feared could make their gas guzzlers obsolete.

“Detroit, your future can be both as big and as small as America wants it to be,” the brochure’s cover read.

Published October 5, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 2.19MB

Toyota-Exxon Work Plan on Exxon’s ACS Technology for Hybrid Vehicles (1979)

In 1979, Toyota entered into a collaboration with Exxon to work together on the oil company’s novel gas-electric hybrid drive system. Pages of the work plan can be seen here.

In 1981 Exxon’s engineers delivered a hybrid gas-electric Toyota Cressida to Japan. It was outfitted with Exxon’s technology that enabled use of an AC (alternating current) motor in a hybrid—cheaper, smaller and more reliable than DC (direct current) motors.

Published October 4, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 37.01MB

The Electric Car and the Petrochemical Industry: Boon Or Bane? Treat or Threat? (1970)

In 1970, Victor Wouk, an independent scientist presented a paper at the Petroleum Chemical Industry conference in Tulsa, Okla. about the challenges and rewards of electric vehicles. The electric car could be “a treat that can be introduced via the bridge of the heat engine/battery hybrid vehicle over the next several decades. Everyone should be encouraged to promote the development of electric vehicles,” he concluded.

Wouk built a prototype1974 hybrid Buick Skylark that got 30 miles per gallon, double its regular mileage, and emitted 9 percent of the emissions a typical model did.

Published October 4, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 0.73MB

Richard H. Baker Deposition: FTC v. Exxon Corporation (1980)

Richard H. Baker was hired by Electric Vehicle Control Systems in November 1976 as a full-time consultant. Baker by then had developed an alternating current synthesizer, or ACS, which the company used in its hybrid gas-electric vehicle prototype in the late 1970s.

To commercialize Baker’s ACS technology, the company bought Reliance Electric in 1979. The Federal Trade Commission filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Exxon to block the acquisition of Reliance.

In 1980, Baker was deposed in Washington D.C. as part of the FTC’s suit.

Published October 4, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 15.20MB

Mobil CEO on Oil Sands’ CO2 Emissions (1982)

Mobil CEO Rawleigh Warner, Jr. on the potentially “disastrous” consequences of rising CO2, particularly as it relates to heavy fossil fuels such as oil sands. Warner’s comments appear in an article he wrote for a 1982 special issue of the journal UNEP Industry and Environment. It’s re-printed here with permission from the United Nations Environment Program.

Published May 6, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 1.76MB

API Climate Models (1982)

The American Petrolem Institute published a paper in 1982 titled “Climate Models and CO2 Warming A Selective Review and Summary.”

Published February 4, 2016 • Adobe PDF • 1.30MB

Exxon Position on CO2 (1981)

A brief summary of Exxon’s position on the global warming in 1981.

Published November 30, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 1.28MB

Weinberg CO2 Memo (1980)

Exxon’s Harold Weinberg questions the concentration of CO2 in the ocean versus the atmosphere in a letter to his colleagues.

Published November 30, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 0.32MB

Shaw Climate Presentation (1984)

A 1984 conference presentation called “CO2 Greenhouse and Climate Issues” by Exxon scientist Henry Shaw.

Published November 30, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 3.59MB

CO2 Research Update (1985)

Exxon scientist Brian Flannery reviews the company’s climate change research efforts in a presentation.

Published November 25, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 4.07MB

Budget Cutting Memo (1982)

A memo announcing Exxon’s decision to slash its CO2 budget.

Published November 25, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 0.47MB

Esso Project Terminated (1982)

A letter announcing the termination of Exxon’s CO2 project aboard the Esso Atlantic tanker.

Published November 25, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 5.67MB

Exxon Review of Climate Research Program (1981)

In this scoping study, an Exxon manager recommends curtailing the company’s ambitious climate research agenda.

Published October 26, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 4.94MB

PR Plan for Exxon’s CO2 Research (1980)

Exxon officials proposed a publicity campaign to burnish the company’s image as a climate science leader.

Published October 22, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 2.42MB

Exxon’s Policy Input to Congressional Commission (1980)

An Exxon researcher played a role as a Congressionally mandated commission examined policy options.

Published October 22, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 4.40MB

Exxon Lobbyist’s Memo to the White House (2001)

Exxon’s top lobbyist urged the White House to replace holdovers from the Clinton-Gore administration, accusing them of political bias.

Published October 22, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 0.44MB

Exxon Scientist Lobbies the White House (2002)

Exxon’s leading climate scientist worked to overhaul the Bush-Cheney administration’s climate research strategy, focusing on uncertainty. The document was originally released to Greenpeace under the Freedom of Information Act.

Published October 22, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 11.09MB

MacCracken Letter to Exxon (2002)

In 2002, Michael MacCracken, the government’s top climate scientist, wrote ExxonMobil’s board chairman a scathing letter about the company’s stance on climate science.

Published October 22, 2015 • Adobe PDF • 0.03MB