Exxon knew of climate change - promoted climate denial with millions over 27 years

[oxmox 73]

Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years

ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm’s own scientists. Despite this the firm spent millions over the next 27 years to promote climate denial.

“Exxon first got interested in climate change in 1981 because it was seeking to develop the Natuna gas field off Indonesia,†Lenny Bernstein, a 30-year industry veteran and Exxon’s former in-house climate expert, wrote in the email. “This is an immense reserve of natural gas, but it is 70% CO2â€, or carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change.

By that time, it was clear that developing the Natuna site would set off a huge amount of climate change pollution – effectively a “carbon bombâ€, according to Bernstein. “When I first learned about the project in 1989, the projections were that if Natuna were developed and its CO2 vented to the atmosphere, it would be the largest point source of CO2 in the world and account for about 1% of projected global CO2 emissions. I’m sure that it would still be the largest point source of CO2, but since CO2 emissions have grown faster than projected in 1989, it would probably account for a smaller fraction of global CO2 emissions,†Bernstein wrote.

However, Exxon’s public position was marked by continued refusal to acknowledge the dangers of climate change, even in response to appeals from the Rockefellers, its founding family, and its continued financial support for climate denial.

Over the years, Exxon spent more than $30m on thinktanks and researchers that promoted climate denial, according to Greenpeace.

Some climate campaigners have likened the industry to the conduct of the tobacco industry which for decades resisted the evidence that smoking causes cancer.

Bernstein writes in his email to Ohio University: “Corporations are interested in environmental impacts only to the extent that they affect profits, either current or future. They may take what appears to be altruistic positions to improve their public image, but the assumption underlying those actions is that they will increase future profits. ExxonMobil is an interesting case in point.â€

Full text of scientist’s email and more from this report:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/08/exxon-climate-change-1981-climate-denier-funding

[vilas 473]

doesn't surprising at all,

international corporations behave in "non first world" countries like colonizers in colonies,

in their own countries they present good view, p.r. managers play innocent company view, in other countries they are destroying local area,

the same goes for corporations behavior in labor issues,

big corporations which care about labor rights in US, UK, Germany behave totally opposite in third world countries,

there were many cases when corporations were hiring scientists to prepare fake reports saying all is okay and etc.

number of allergic people arises in recent decade very much, allergy in previous generation was very rare, nowadays almost every second newborn child has allergy problem,

the same crap and pollution is in fertilizers , plant protection products, i am example of it, when i was child, young, i could eat all, i never had any allergy, now since few years i almost cannot eat any fruits, cause it cause pus from the eyes and itching of my eyes, but i can eat vegetables from my woman's farm, which she plants herself,

but some fruits bought in store cause serious itching,

the same with for example bread, there are some breads that cause itching tongue,

our food, environment, air is very polluted, because some corporations treat our globe (or part of our globe) as colony,

all of them (management) exactly know what they are doing and all of them are denying it , because we live in mad situation where small group of mentally ill greed people want to have such sum of money, that they would not be able to spend in their whole lifetime, some people who lead corporations are such greed that they are ready to kill half of humans and destroy whole planet cause 100 limousines in garage is not enough

[oxmox 73]

ExxonMobil scandal: involvment of politicians

ExxonMobil gave millions to climate-denying lawmakers despite pledge (TheGuardian, July 15th)

Under pressure from shareholders, company promised eight years ago to stop funding climate denial – but financial and tax records tell a different story

ExxonMobil gave more than $2.3m to members of Congress and a corporate lobbying group that deny climate change and block efforts to fight climate change – eight years after pledging to stop its funding of climate denial, the Guardian has learned.

Climate denial – from Republicans in Congress and lobby groups operating at the state level – is seen as a major obstacle to US and global efforts to fight climate change, closing off the possibility of federal and state regulations cutting greenhouse gas emissions and the ability to plan for a future of sea-level rise and extreme weather.

Exxon channeled about $30m to researchers and activist groups promoting disinformation about global warming over the years, according to a tally kept by the campaign group Greenpeace. But the oil company pledged to stop such funding in 2007, in response to pressure from shareholder activists.

But since 2007, the oil company has given $1.87m to Republicans in Congress who deny climate change and an additional $454,000 to the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), according to financial and tax records

In a statement to the Guardian this week, Exxon spokesman Richard Keil reiterated: “ExxonMobil does not fund climate denial.â€

Alec, an ultra-conservative lobby group, has hosted seminars promoting the long-discredited idea that rising carbon dioxide emissions are the “elixir of lifeâ€, and was behind legislation banning state planners in North Carolina from considering future sea-level rise.

A majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate deny climate change or oppose action to fight climate change, according to the Center for American Progress. (--> only Republicans ?)

Exxon’s beneficiaries in Congress include the Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, who called global warming a hoax, and who has received $20,500 since 2007, according to the Dirty Energy Money database maintained by Oil Change International.

Exxon funded the Mississippi senator Roger Wicker, who cast the single no vote earlier this year against a symbolic “sense of the Senate†resolution that climate change was real and not a hoax. The resolution passed 98-1. Wicker, who received $14,000 from Exxon, voted no.

Exxon also gave a total of $868,150 to Republican senators who voted against another symbolic resolution that human activity was a significant driver of climate change.

Each of the 49 Republican senators who voted no received at least $5,000 from Exxon, according to Oil Change figures.

Exxon has also continued to fund Alec, which works to block climate legislation in state legislatures, according to figures compiled by the Climate Investigations Center from the oil company’s own disclosures in its annual Worldwide Giving Reports and foundation tax filings.

Alec has for decades worked to block action on climate change, by drafting bills for state legislatures aimed at dismantling environmental regulations. The lobby group hosted a summit last December featuring a speaker who called carbon dioxide emissions “the elixir of lifeâ€.

--> Corporate funding of climate denial is seen as a major barrier to US action on climate change – and dividing the US from Europe in addressing global warming.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/15/exxon-mobil-gave-millions-climate-denying-lawmakers

@ ...........the US is the biggest energy consumer, one of the biggest contaminator.

191 countries did sign the Kyoto-Protocoll, the US "our paragon" is the only industrial nation which did not sign/ratify it, Canada did withdrawel it....:rolleyes:

Edited July 16, 2015 by oxmox