We recently wrote about how a monumental court ruling has ordered Shell to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030. Later that very same day, another climate victory occurred as shareholders voted to elect two green energy activists to the ExxonMobil board. 

The shift took place thanks to an activist hedge fund called Engine No. 1.  At Exxon’s annual shareholder meeting. The group, which owns about 0.02 percent of the company’s stock, offered up four of its own director candidates to run against the company’s proposed directors with two eventually winning seats.  

This is not only monumental for pressuring the company to accept and promote a renewable future, but it also signals to the rest of the industry that one of its biggest players has chosen to accept the end of fossil fuels. 

Ben Cushing, financial advocacy campaign manager at Sierra Club says, “Make no mistake: the shareholder vote to shake up Exxon’s board represents a seismic shift for the company. It’s a culmination of years of activist energy and a result of massive shareholder frustration with the company’s failure to change course on climate.”

That same day, big oil took another blow as 61 percent of Chevron’s shareholders voted to slash emissions.