Suzanne McCarron is the vice president of public and government affairs at Exxon Mobil Corporation
I wanted to register our objection to Fortune’s characterization of ExxonMobil’s approach to government regulation.
ExxonMobil works constructively with the EPA and other regulators on a wide range of regulations to develop rules that achieve regulators’ objectives in efficient ways.
Examples include the rules on the refinery sector, railcar safety, and disclosure of fluids used in hydraulic fracturing.
More recently, the company supported reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
ExxonMobil supports a regulatory development process that uses best available scientific information, employs best practices in benefit-cost analysis, is transparent in the use of methods and data, involves appropriate oversight by the courts, utilizes balanced peer review and scientific advisory panels, and engages stakeholders early in the regulatory process.
With respect to our efforts in support of the Common Core State Standards, the bottom line is that 42 states remain officially committed. ExxonMobil is focused on high education standards and the implementation of Common Core because of the following discouraging facts – U.S. students rank 31st in the world in math, 24th in science, and 21st in reading.
In our opinion, Fortune missed an opportunity to support education reform by sending the message that it’s safer for business leaders to stay out of the public policy arena versus actively contributing to the debate on important societal issues where business can lend expertise.