(EnergyAsia, July 9 2012, Monday) — After decades of fierce denials, US major ExxonMobil has acknowledged the reality of climate change and the role played by fossil fuels burning.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last month, CEO Rex Tillerson of the world’s most powerful corporation to deny global warming and climate change broke new ground when he said fossil fuels burning is warming the planet.

ExxonMobil has led the oil and gas industry in its decades-long campaign to cast doubt on man’s role in warming the planet and changing the climate through growing combustion of oil, gas, coal and other hydrocarbons that release greenhouse gases.

It is not known if this acknowledgement will lead to a change in ExxonMobil’s policy towards environmental and climate issues.

Still, Mr Tillerson downplayed the impact of global warming with his attacks on an “illiterate” public, the press and green groups for “manufacturing fear” and alarm about the changing climate, and scientists for their ability to accurately forecast climate change.

“Clearly there is going to be an impact,” he said of growing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions on the planet.

On the more recent issues of deep-sea drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking to produce oil and gas from rocks and sands, he again slammed the press and green groups for fanning fear and alarmism.

The risks involved in producing oil and gas through these methods are manageable and small, and will be solved over time.

“We have spent our entire existence adapting. We’ll adapt. It’s an engineering problem and there will be an engineering solution.”