Agenda Thank you and good morning. It's a pleasure to be here and to have the opportunity to speak for the first time as an executive of the new Exxon Mobil Corporation. As you can imagine, this is an exciting time for us. We all depend on a healthy environment to nurture and sustain life and to provide air, water, food and natural resources.
Energy is also essential as a means of economic growth and a better quality of life.
But some people are concerned that using these fuels cannot take place in a way that safeguards the environment. I would like to challenge that view. I believe that achieving the world's environmental, economic and social goals is possible with a responsible, positive approach. Before I make that argument, let me say a few words about the opposite position, which I'll call the partialist point of view. Last week, at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, we got an impression of just how big a gap exists in the way some groups and some nations view the environment, labor and trade.