The resolution is intended to help shareholders monitor and evaluate whether the company’s voluntary activities and expenditures touted as protecting the public health and environment are producing actual and meaningful benefits to shareholders, the public health and the environment, including global climate.

Corporate managements sometimes engage in the practice of ‘greenwashing,’ which is defined as the expenditure of shareholder assets on ostensibly environment-related activities but possibly undertaken merely for the purpose of improving the company’s or management’s public image. Such insincere ‘green’ posturing and associated touting of hypothetical or imaginary benefits to public health and the environment may harm shareholders by wasting corporate assets, and deceiving shareholders and the public by accomplishing nothing real and significant for the public health and environment.

For example, amid global warming hysteria in 2002, ExxonMobil publicly announced it would provide Stanford University with $100 million over 10 years for the purpose of ‘researching new options for commercially viable, technological systems for energy supply and use which have the capability to substantially reduce greenhouse emissions,’ according to a November 19, 2002 media release. On what was the money actually spent? What actual progress was made? What were the meaningful benefits produced?