Dear Sir/Madam,

It would be nice to naively think that Exxon Mobile is playing down its  high profits from a sense of shame for its immoral earnings from the plundering of our planet, but unfortunately that is an unlikely cause for their coyness. Almost certainly, they just do not want attention drawn to the horrendous crime they are committing and profiting from so handsomely ("At Exxon Mobil, a Record Profit but No Fanfare")

What crime?! they protest - with indignation! They are doing nothing illegal!

Of course not. It is perfectly legal to plunder and spoil our planet in pursuit of company profits, inflated executive pay and bonuses and shareholder value. And by the time our children (and theirs!) have grown up and become aware of what their own parents and grandparents have done to them (wrecked their planet and their future, along with that of their children and grandchildren, too), it will be too late to hold them to account - and pointless, anyway. The damage will have been done. All they'll be able to do, is curse us.

Yes, "us ", because we are all complicit in this slowly unfolding act of monumental stupidity and selfishness.