You know, all oil companies are publicly owned, which means if you want
to be heard by them you need to only buy stock in the company. All
companies are required to make a profit - but oil (or any company) can
be directed by the shareholders on how that profit is generated.

Note that I do not hold any shares in any oil companies that I am aware
of - no prospectus is mailed to me each year from my mutual fund
management company - but I am thinking of buying a few shares so I have
a voice there...you only need one share after all!

Yes... and the effect of any vote will be drowned out by the majority that
only cares about the company's profits.

By the way... Businesses do not generally put their projects up to vote by
the stock holders. If you want to change the way a company does business,
you hve to get it on the agenda. It's not easy.

Long before I was a bleeding-heart liberal, I held stock in one of the
world's largest companies, given to me by my father. The company sometimes
asked its stockholders to vote on various issues. Even though I wasn't even
a teenager, I felt that most of them benefitted the company, not its
employees or the public, and I voted against them.