Chevron Corp. announced its 2013 first-quarter profits this morning. While income fell slightly compared to this time last year, the oil giant still earned a whopping $6.2 billion this quarter.
The company is also sitting on over $17 billion in cash reserves. How will Chevron spend its billions? Part of it is already being spent to rollback important public health initiatives.
Chevron is leading the lobbying and public relations effort to “undercut the California mandate aimed at curbing global warming, two years after the state phased it in.” Chevron is also making its shareholders and executives’ rich — buying back $1.25 billion of its stock, or 20 percent of its profit, and giving their Chair and CEO a $3.5 million cash bonus. The board also approved a $100,000 raise to their CEO, which boosted his salary to $1.8 million annually.
Below are some additional facts about Chevron:
- Chevron is ranked second of the Fortune 500’s most profitable companies, raking in an astounding $26.2 billion in 2012.
- The company spent nearly $4 million in federal campaign contributions during the 2012 election cycle, with 84% of its contributions to Republicans.
- Last year, the company spent $9.5 million on federal lobbying efforts and has already dropped $3.6 million so far this year.
- While Chevron may claim to pay its fair share in taxes, the company paid an effective tax rate of about 19 percent in 2011. This is almost half the 35 percent corporate tax rate standard as the company receives an average annual tax break of $700 million.
BP is the next of the Big Five oil companies to release their profits, which is expected next Tuesday, April 30th.
— Tiffany Germain is a Senior Climate/Energy Researcher in the Think Progress War Room.