Dear Rex,

Today, Joe Romm features former Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a compelling plea.
We can learn from science and from the mistakes of the past, take on the climate bubble
now, and unleash the power of innovation to spur the next industrial revolution. Or we can
continue ignoring science and face a devastating carbon crash that will ravage the world far
more than the recent economic crash and irreversibly so.
Now is the time to begin the end game . . .
Re-energize with clean carbon-free fuels for life!
Re-invent ExxonMobil as an energy company, be more than an oil & gas company.
Re-direct capital investments from carbon-based infrastructure to carbon-free infrastructure.
Announce a retirement schedule for your refineries let the end-game begin.
Your "leadership by example would usher in a new era...."
Former Bush Treasury Secretary: We Can Prevent A Climate
Crash With A Carbon Tax
BY JOE ROMM JUNE 22, 2014 AT 12:00 PM
Former Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS
Douglas Grandt <answerthecall@mac.com>
To: Rex Tillerson <Rex.W.Tillerson@ExxonMobil.com>
Cc: David Rosenthal <David.S.Rosenthal@exxonmobil.com>
"One of the biggest thresholds has already been reached. -Henry Paulson

June 22, 2014 3:01 PM
5 Attachments, 72 KB
There is an amazing op-ed in Sundays New York Times, The Coming Climate Crash: Lessons for
Climate Change in the 2008 Recession.
Whats amazing isnt so much the content the climate crisis is real, were close to crossing
catastrophic and irreversible tipping points, we have the technology to start slashing carbon pollution
now, and we need a carbon price to jumpstart the process. Youve heard it many times from the nations
and worlds top scientists, from Al Gore and Bill McKibben, and here on Climate Progress. But this
piece is by Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury Secretary from July 2006 to January 2009 under President
George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Whereas Tea-Party-driven Republicans on the Hill are stuck in denial, the ever-worsening reality of
human caused climate change is leading even the most mainstream Republicans like Paulson to sing a
much different tune.
We are building up excesses (debt in 2008, greenhouse gas emissions that are trapping heat now).
Our government policies are flawed (incentivizing us to borrow too much to finance homes then,
and encouraging the overuse of carbon-based fuels now). Our experts (financial experts then,
climate scientists now) try to understand what they see and to model possible futures. And the
outsize risks have the potential to be tremendously damaging (to a globalized economy then, and
the global climate now).
What are these outsize risks? Paulson explains that scientists have identified a number of potential
thresholds that, once crossed, could cause sweeping, irreversible changes. He points out already,
observations are catching up with years of scientific models, and the trends are not in our favor. And,
Paulson notes, these changes are quickly accelerating in recent years. Fewer than 10 years ago, the
best analysis projected that melting Arctic sea ice would mean nearly ice-free summers by the end of
the 21st century, he writes. Now the ice is melting so rapidly that virtually ice-free Arctic summers
could be here in the next decade or two.
Why is that bad? Because that leads to an amplifying feedback that speeds up atmospheric and ocean
warming, ultimately raising sea levels. And we have a bigger problem at the other pole: Even worse,
in May, two separate studies discovered that one of the biggest thresholds has already been reached,
Paulson writes. The West Antarctic ice sheet has begun to melt, a process that scientists estimate may
take centuries but that could eventually raise sea levels by as much as 14 feet.
Finally, Paulson warns, theres every reason to expect that many other concerns of climate scientists
will become painful reality in the years ahead: And 10 years from now, will other thresholds be crossed
that scientists are only now contemplating?
But this is no economic doom and gloom message from the former Treasury Secretary. Rather, Paulson
presents a choice between economic doom and economic boom. We already have a head start on the
technologies we need. The costs of the policies necessary to make the transition to an economy
powered by clean energy are real, but modest relative to the risks, he writes.
Although Paulson doesnt mention it, the worlds leading scientists and governments agreed that the
annual growth loss to preserve a livable climate is a mere 0.06 percent relative to baseline growth of
between 1.6 percent and 3 percent per year.
So, then what is the solution? Paulson is clear that a tax on carbon emissions will unleash a wave of
innovation to develop technologies, lower the costs of clean energy and create jobs as we and other
nations develop new energy products and infrastructure. In turn, he writes, this would strengthen
national security by reducing the worlds dependence on governments like Russia and Iran.
The choice is apparent to all but the most extreme head-in-the-sand idealogues: We can learn from
science and from the mistakes of the past, take on the climate bubble now, and unleash the power of
innovation to spur the next industrial revolution. Or we can continue ignoring science and face a
devastating carbon crash that will ravage the world far more than the recent economic crash and
irreversibly so.

If you truly advocate a revenue neutral carbon fee, and acknowledge that it will reduce demand
for liquid fossil fuels and the associated emissions of greenhouse gases, then you can take the
initiative to lead with serious action. Retiring one refinery now would send a clear message that
you and ExxonMobil fully understand the urgency. Inviting your colleagues around the world to
also begin retiring refineries will "put your money where your mouth is" and support the global
effort to quell accelerating climate chaos.
Please meet me for coffee Let's talk about the urgency and a deadlines to protect all life ...
from:
Extreme weather - Increasing death and damage from more heat waves, high winds and high
water.
Hunger and thirst - Increasing drought and famine from natural and anthropogenic water
shortages.
Disease and pestilence - Harmful critters, parasites and bacteria are already on the move.
Social unrest and economic upheaval - We have seen precursors worse is yet to come.