01:30 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2006

From Staff and Wire Reports

WFAA

Demostrators yelled at arriving shareholders and executives

Protesters wearing barrels greeted Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders as they gathered in downtown Dallas Wednesday for the oil giant's annual meeting.

Demostrators stood near the entrance to the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and yelled at arriving shareholders and executives, objecting to what they see as the company's lack of investment in alternative forms of energy.

Topics of the meeting are scheduled to include several resolutions from dissident shareholders on environmental and executive compensation issues. Some of the same proposals have failed to win majority support in past years.

The meeting marks the public debut of new chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson. He took over in January when longtime CEO Lee Raymond retired. Raymond's confrontations with dissident shareholders were a staple of past meetings.

Outside the meeting, behind sign-covered barricades and a melting Exxon ice sculpture, demonstrators spoke of issues like global warming. Liz Branch, a Dallas Peace Center volunteer, explained that the organization was “mourning the death of the planet.”

Protesters repeated several chants, including “Mother Earth is not happy – Exxon Mobil treats her crappy!”  They told investors, “Sell your stock – extinction is forever!”

“Exxon Mobil has no faith in American ingenuity to transition this country off of oil in the next ten years,” ExxposeExxon campaign director Shawnee Hoover said.

Over the years, officials have said it wasn't prudent for the company to invest large amounts in alternative energy.  Exxon media relations advisor Dave Gardner said the company has also faced “realistic technical barriers” to other forms of energy.  Instead, he said that Exxon is looking to the future to solve environmental problems.

“What we need is breakthroughs in technology that take us beyond things we can imagine right now,” he said.

Mr. Gardner points to the company’s efforts to improve efficiency and its investment in initiatives like the Global Climate and Energy Project, a Stanford University research program that focuses on the environment.

Dallas Morning News staff writer Emily Goldstein and the Associated Press contributed to this report.