Environment
Exxon accused of underhand tactics on climate change
ExxonMobil has been accused of
adopting tobacco industry-style disinformation tactics to cloud understanding
and impede action on climate change.
A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) alleges that between 1998
and 2005 the oil and gas giant channelled nearly $16m into a network of 43
advocacy organisations seeking to baffle the public’s understanding of global
warming science.
This, argues the report, has allowed ExxonMobil to raise doubts about
undisputable scientific evidence; give the false impression of a broad platform
of opposition to climate change, when it fact only a tight-knit group exists;
attempt to portray its own opposition as an effort towards “sound science”
rather than business self interest; and use its access to the Bush
administration to block government moves on climate change.
Among the examples included in the report is that of the George C Marshall
Institute, which has received $630,000 from the company. The Institute recently
promoted a book edited by Patrick Michaels, a writer the report claims is
affiliated with at least 11 organisations funded by ExxonMobil.
Seth Shulman, an investigative journalist who wrote the UCS report, said, “The
paper trail shows that, to serve its corporate interests, ExxonMobil has built a
vast echo chamber of seemingly independent groups with the express purpose of
spreading disinformation about global warming”.
Links
ExxonMobil
Union of Concerned Scientists
February, 2007 |