Rockefellers vs Tillerson  

The Times reports that the Rockefeller family is complaining about Exxon's never ending assault on the environment and its refusal to face up to the changing energy landscape - ExxonMobil row masks true green dilemma. Mind you, I'm not sure how seriously to take any article that calls Chevron a "green agony aunt" - they never seemed too concerned about the Ecuadorian Amazon, and I can't recall them calling for the introduction of carbon taxes either.

Members of the Rockefeller family are jousting with Rex Tillerson, the boss of ExxonMobil, calling for an independent chairman and a corporate governance upheaval at the oil company, which was once part of Standard Oil, founded by John D. Rockefeller in the 19th century.

Some Rockefellers don't like Exxon's lofty disdain for the environmental lobby and its refusal to consider anything other than a simple diet of more hydrocarbons.

They are pushing for a vote on the issue at the annual meeting.

It is less exciting than it sounds. The Rockefellers are not controlling shareholders and investors do not like change for its own sake - Exxon's profitability and valuation is leagues ahead of rivals, such as BP, Shell and Chevron, the industry's green agony aunts.
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While the Rockefellers beat their breasts, most shareholders will continue to love the fat Exxon dividend.

Yet underlying the protest from the trust fund Rockers is a big problem for oil companies - their ever-increasing reliance on the support of governments and regulators.

Exxon's riposte to the climate change and peak oil lobbies is that technology rather than regulation will provide answers to our energy problems.

It is a disingenuous argument because the energy industry is at the governments' knees begging for help - big dollops of taxpayer cash to build experimental power stations.

It is not merely subsidies that the energy industry demands, it is guidance, direction and regulation.

The continuous clamour from big oil to civil servants in Brussels, Washington and Whitehall is: “Tell us what you want us to do. What kind of energy, what kind of biofuel, which renewables, where to invest and to what specification.”

Never before in the history of capitalism has such a powerful industry swallowed so much humble pie.

There is a strategic vacuum at the heart of the energy industry. In such an environment, leaders can emerge and at the turn of the 20th century Standard Oil was such a company, hell-bent on developing a standard petroleum product that would achieve universal acceptance.

John D. Rockefeller bullied and bulldozed his way to the top of the pile and the market was awash with his kerosene.

No Standard Oil has emerged to tell us which product will keep the lights on in 2030 without frying the planet.

Is it nuclear power, hydrogen, biofuels or old king coal with new and improved carbon capture? Weeping hysterically, the energy barons cling to the skirts of the civil servants and ask for guidance.

Well - hopefully no one is recommending any of that miserable selection as the solution to our energy problems.

My advice - look up at the sun (briefly), feel the wind on your face, walk along the beach and watch the waves or go and relax in a geothermal spring. Then you might get some clues...