Despite a court challenge by environmental organizations this month to stop the $8-billion Kearl oilsands project in Alberta, Canada, Mr. Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO brazenly admits he expects little delay.

Referring to Climate Change, Tillerson says, "And I will take all the criticism that comes with it. Anybody that tells you that they got this figured out is not being truthful. There are too many complexities around climate science for anybody to fully understand all of the causes and effects and consequences of what you may chose to do to attempt to affect that. We have to let scientists to continue their investigative work, unencumbered by political influences. This is too important to be cute with it."

Tillerson's approach however is to 'shoot first' and sort out the details later, as the details are what would inevitably slow his massive project in Canada down. For more on this, see http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=547068

ExxonMobil is the world's largest company by revenue, at $404.5 billion for the fiscal year of 2007. It is also the largest publicly held corporation by market capitalization, at $501.17 billion on April 18, 2008.

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spilled more than 11 million gallons (42,000 m³) of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second largest in U.S. history, and in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez incident, the U.S. Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The company is still appealing a $2.5 billion USD punitive ruling, and has not paid any damages yet.