Off the books favors from 0bama’s FedMob. Just a speculation.
I believe Exxon is a major contributor to radical leftist advocacy groups and they are probably forced to do that to curry favor with the political establishment.
But aside from contributions I find it difficult to understand how the CEO would explain at a shareholder’s meeting how ‘Common Core’ is crucial to the business objectives of the company. And I could show up at a shareholder’s meeting and ask the question so it’s not like the CEO can escape responding to these questions.