Outside the 2007 ExxonMobil Shareholders meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, protesters organized by Exxpose Exxon held banners saying No Planet, No Profits, Stop the Lies about Global Warming and other slogans that called for the company to acknowledge the impact it’s having on climate change, and do its part to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and invest in renewable energy. The rally was endorsed by 19 environmental and public interest organizations including Public Citizen, Green Peace, MoveOn.org, and other national organizations.

Shawnee Hoover, Exxpose Exxon’s public relations director, was joined by -Tim Greef NRDC, Gary Stuard, Dallas Interfaith Environmental Alliance and CLEAN’s Juan Parras for a press conference to talk about ExxonMobil about its role in global warming and environmental justice for low-income and minority communities.

It wasn’t just environmental activists who spoke out against ExxonMobil’s lack of effort to help curb global warming. Press releases from institutional investors and shareholder’s, including California Public Employees Retirement System, which owns 30 million shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., called for the removal of Michael Boskin, chairman of the oil company's public issues committee, "due to the company's inaction on the business risks from climate change." These investors also sponsored resolutions calling on the company to set greenhouse gas reduction goals and to invest in renewable energy.

Inside, Rex Tillerson, CEO and board chair of the largest, most profitable energy company in the world, kept his cool manner as one shareholder resolution after another was discussed and then voted down.

Exxpose Exxon discreetly carried the protest into the shareholders meeting. Hoover and a dozen shareholders in support of Exxpose Exxon stood up. Hoover took the microphone, called attention to the group and noted that Exxon Mobil gave $115,000 to The Heartland Institute last year. "This is the kind of 'debate' you're funding," she said, "from their 2007 State Legislative Guidebook they write, 'warming is likely to be very modest relative to natural variation, benefits are likely to outweigh costs, and taking action now in the name of fighting "global warming" is unnecessary.'"

Out of 17 shareholder resolution, five were directly or indirectly related to climate change. Resolution 15, calling for the board to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, received 31 percent of the vote – the highest ever on a global warming resolution. Another resolution called for the company to provide information at the pump on how much carbon dioxide is emitted by using ExxonMobil gasoline. It received 7.1 percent of shareholder votes.

Resolution 5 called for the company to separate the functions of board chair and chief executive officer. The resolution sponsor, Ram Trust, suggested that ExxonMobil attracts hostility from the public by giving the perception that it has inappropriate influence over government, particularly with respect to environmental and energy policies; it earns too much money; and that the company is insensitive to its responsibilities as a good citizen. Support documentation for this resolution included a letter from U. S. Senators Olympia Snowe and John D. Rockefeller written last October to ExxonMobil’s top management:

“We are writing to appeal to your sense of stewardship, of corporate citizenship, as U.S. Senators concerned about the credibility of the United States in the international community, and as Americans concerned that one of our most prestigious corporations has done much in the past to adversely affect that credibility. We are convinced that ExxonMobil’s longstanding support of a small cadre of global climate change skeptics, and these skeptics’ access to and influence on government policy makers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across all facets of its diplomacy. Obviously, other factors complicate our foreign policy. However, we are persuaded that the climate change denial strategy carried out by and for ExxonMobil has helped foster the perception that the United States is insensitive to a matter of great urgency for all of mankind, and has thus damaged the stature of our nation internationally.”

Denise Napier, treasurer for the State of Connecticut, presented Resolution 5. She said that ExxonMobil’s refusal to have an independent director was the company’s “way to avoid an inconvenient truth.” Shareholders voted 40 percent for this resolution calling for the company to have an independent CEO.

Tillerson never wavered from his confident stance that ExxonMobil is doing the right thing as an energy company. He made it clear that ExxonMobil is in the oil and gas business and that is not likely to change. He also noted that the company is working to be more efficient and to reduce flaring and other sources of carbon dioxide emissions.