Greenpeace

American business is as strong as ever, as proven by the Exxon Mobil giant.  $45.2 billion, even with a 33% drop in the last quarter, is incredible.  In fact, that shatters the ceiling of their past profit records by almost a full $5 billion.

Consider the image below, courtesy of <www.wallstats.com>.  It takes 279 individuals with doctorate degrees a collective lifetime to generate just $1 billion; it would take around 12,500 individuals of the same qualifications a collective lifetime to generate $45.2 billion.

Considering that most people with doctorate degrees actually go on to contribute something positive to the world, they should be getting a pay raise.

Exxon Mobil could do with scaling it back a little.

If you’ve read my first post, Common Sense: A Natural Perspective, then you're aware that I'm not an enormous fan of big oil.  That post addressed my ecological concerns; this one is just to get across the point of how excessive the profits of big oil are.

Imagine what we could do with $45.2 billion if that were put behind, say, efforts to preserve what's left of our rainforests, initiatives to protect endangered wildlife, or programs to generate a cleaner industrial sector.  Yet, that enormous chunk of revenue is going to seep into the pockets of major stockholders, company big shots, etc., etc., with maybe a small portion going to a few humanitarian projects so that the little people don't go on a rampage when they read about Exxon's windfall profits.

Although I’m obviously against oil as a main energy source, I don't have much against the Exxon company itself; just the fact that it continues to haul in incredible revenue even while the rest of the world is dragging in recession.  Exxon could practically give oil away and still make a couple billion a year.  But $45.2 billion?  Really?  That number conjures up images of the $4.00 mark at the pump this past summer, and it's enough to make me cringe.

Another thought: with that kind of money, couldn't Exxon begin developing alternative energy sources for cars?  If they got ahead in that, they'd still be huge leaders in the energy industry AND we'd be running a much cleaner version of the automobile.

Of course, when you're making $45.2 frickin' billion, why change what you're doing?