Big Oil Is Making Record Profits While the World Burns

While bombshell climate report after bombshell climate report prepares us for a future of flooding, extreme heat, wildfire, and mass extinction, Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest producer of fossil fuels, earned $19.7 billion between July and September, more than it brought in in any other three-month period—ever. What’s it planning to do with the windfall? Well, the company last week said it's fulfilling its “commitment to return profits to shareholders” by buying back $10.5 billion of its own stock and upping its dividend payments to investors, an effort to line stockholder’s pockets and attract more investment.