This past semester I took a class called “Ethics and Business”. On the very first day, the professor stressed the fact that the class was about business AND ethics, rather than business ethics. The point for his obvious clarification — this was the title of the class, after all — was so he could stress that more often than not, business isn’t super ethical. Upon hearing more and more bad news about Exxon Mobil, the biggest oil company in the world, I realized that my professor was right to emphasize how business ethics aren’t remotely a priority for some companies.

To fill you in on the monstrosity that is the lack of Exxon Mobil’s regard for ethics would take a lot more than the words that I am allowed on this page. Instead, I am just going to focus on one major hiccup from the company that has come to light recently. In 1977, Exxon Mobil hired James Black and other scientists to determine the long-term effects of their actions on the earth. The scientists determined that the globe would heat 2-3 degrees Celsius and have irrational rainfall — a prediction that has since come true. As an ethical business, Exxon Mobil should have disclosed this information to its users, considering that their monumental actions impact every human on Earth. But, no, Exxon Mobil was too interested in their profit to consider the detrimental impacts of their actions.

Now, it’s one thing to simply ignore the fact that your company is negatively changing the face of the earth. It’s another to actively lobby that climate change isn’t even real. In 1990s, Exxon Mobil began a trend of using company funds and power to bury their evidential research regarding climate change. The company is now being questioned about their credibility. Specifically, people are asking whether the company lied to the public by withholding their research for decades.

The fact that the company lied was extremely apparent to the public, despite the company’s best efforts. Exxon Mobil had this research for decades, but rather than acting on it, they decided to deny climate change. They have funded companies that are climate change deniers. It is known that the company spent millions in the next couple decades to lobby for companies that are climate change deniers.

According to Lenny Bernstein, a climate expert, “ExxonMobil’s current CEO, Rex Tillerson, has taken a much softer line, but ExxonMobil has not lost its position as the personification of corporate, and especially climate change, evil.” There is evidence showing Exxon Mobil’s support toward companies that are lobbying against the notion of climate change, or are denying the global phenomenon all together.

According to environmentalist and founder of the environmental group 350.org Bill McKibben, the company “helped organize the most consequential lie in human history.” The discovery and coverup of the effects of the company’s actions was all done under the reign of the former CEO, Lee Raymond. The new CEO is Tillerson, our future secretary of state. Since his appointment as CEO, Tillerson has taken Exxon Mobil in a new direction. Raymond was adamantly against admitting that climate change exists. Tillerson, however, is not denying that climate change exists, but he still believes that the common person doesn’t know enough about science and math so they find the work of the big oil companies “scary.”

Although he is not unreasonable to think that the average person doesn’t have a full understanding about what enormous oil companies do on the day-to-day, I like to think that that people are recognizing the reality of climate change, what with the increase in forest fires, floods and general temperature. Climate change was almost tangible and ridiculously evident when we just had a snow day and 80 degree weather within the same week.

Essentially, climate change is very real and very apparent. The sooner that huge oil companies not only admit it, but also work to combat their decades of detrimental actions, the better off we will all be. Exxon Mobil’s actions not only showed their complete lack of regard for being transparent with consumers but also how they value profit more than human existence. You might think that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s not. Money isn’t going to mean much when global warming heats our globe to unbearable living conditions.

I don’t want to leave you feeling hopeless, so here are some ways you can get involved on campus to help save our planet. Firstly, recycle. The recycling bin is right next to the trash one — you can do it. Next, you can get involved by taking some classes to get educated on the subject of climate change by taking classes like the Fundamentals of Climate Change Science or even get a master’s degree in State’s Climate Change and Society bridge program. Our generation can prove Tillerson wrong by getting to know what’s happening to our home. Last but NOT least, talk to the big man. It might seem miniscule, but Exxon Mobil does have an entire directory of people you can contact, ask questions and voice your concerns. We can still turn this around.