Thursday, January 4, 2007

Concerned Scientists rip Exxon Mobil on global warming

By Todd Maternowski

IRVING — A report released Wednesday by a science advocacy group says Exxon Mobil Corp. spent nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to fund skeptic groups that misled the public on the science behind climate change.

The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists says the Irving-based oil giant funneled the money to a network of 43 advocacy organizations whose goal is to spread inaccurate information about global warming. You can read their report here.

Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco's Tactics to "Manufacture Uncertainty" on Climate Change details how the oil company, like the tobacco industry in previous decades, has

• raised doubts about even the most indisputable scientific evidence
• funded an array of front organizations to create the appearance of a broad platform for a tight-knit group of vocal climate change contrarians who misrepresent peer-reviewed scientific findings
• attempted to portray its opposition to action as a positive quest for "sound science" rather than business self-interest
• used its access to the Bush administration to block federal policies and shape government communications on global warming

For example, the report states that the George C. Marshall Institute, for instance, which has received $630,000 from ExxonMobil, recently touted a book edited by Patrick Michaels, a long-time climate change contrarian who is affiliated with at least 11 organizations funded by ExxonMobil.

Similarly, ExxonMobil funds a number of lesser-known groups such as the Annapolis Center for Science-Based Public Policy and Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Both groups promote the work of several climate change contrarians, including Sallie Baliunas, an astrophysicist who is affiliated with at least nine ExxonMobil-funded groups, and has since been discredited within the scientific community by 13 scientists who stated she had misrepresented their work in her paper. This renunciation did not stop ExxonMobil-funded groups from continuing to promote the paper. Through methods such as these, ExxonMobil has been able to amplify and prop up work that has been discredited by reputable climate scientists.

Exxon has said it has found many of the conclusions in the report to be inaccurate. You can read their official response here. In it Exxon references their Tommorow's Energy report, in which they recognize the potential harmful effects of greenhouse gases on climate change and detail ExxonMobil's stance on exploring new energy alternatives.

From Exxon's response, "ExxonMobil's actions in response are significant..... in terms of making our own operations less energy intensive, in terms of pursuing research with engine and vehicle manufacturers to improve transportation efficiency and in terms of advanced research to pursue breakthroughs in technology for future energy sources."

The company's response also states that the scientific organizations they funded were independent of their corporate sponsors, and Exxon was not responsible for any policy recommendations comin from said organizations. ExxonMobil went on to say some of the policy positions taken by the organizations are "persuasive and enlightening," while others are not.

Sources: Union of Concerned Scientists, ExxonMobil

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