Finally, Big Oil Must Defend Its Harm and Misinformation Before Congress

Washington, D.C. — New reports today confirm that after a long history of Big Oil dodging calls to testify before Congress about its harmful practices, officials from oil companies including BP, Shell, Chevron, and Exxon are expected to testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing later this month. The Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute (API) are also slated to participate. 

Reporting in the Washington Post suggests that threats by Representative Ro Khanna to subpoena the oil executives may have been the final push they needed to finally face the committee under oath. 

“If oil and gas companies really are proud of their business practices, then it wouldn’t take several dodged hearings and a subpoena threat for their executives to sit before Congress and defend themselves,” said Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable.US. “The American people have waited too long for answers about Big Oil’s efforts to poison the public against President Biden’s widely popular climate agenda. But the question remains — will these executives own up to the harm they’ve been trying to hide at this hearing, or continue to evade the truth?” 

# # #