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In a corporate publication of November 28th, 2015 ExxonMobil specifically denied claims made by [[InsideClimate News]] that it had curtailed carbon dioxide research in favor of climate denial. Exxon's statement noted the drop in oil prices hurt oil companies in the 1980s and this was the cause of research cut backs. The statement also claimed InsideClimate News failed to note that in Exxon's research of CO2 that "has not yet been proven that the increases in atmospheric CO2 constitute a serious problem that requires immediate action." <ref>{{cite web|last1=Cohen|first1=Ken|title=A History Lesson for InsideClimate News|url=http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/11/28/a-history-lesson-for-insideclimate-news/|website=ExxonMobil Perspecitves|publisher=ExxonMobil|accessdate=Nov 30, 2016}}</ref>
In a corporate publication of November 28th, 2015 ExxonMobil specifically denied claims made by [[InsideClimate News]] that it had curtailed carbon dioxide research in favor of climate denial. Exxon's statement noted the drop in oil prices hurt oil companies in the 1980s and this was the cause of research cut backs. The statement also claimed InsideClimate News failed to note that in Exxon's research of CO2 that "has not yet been proven that the increases in atmospheric CO2 constitute a serious problem that requires immediate action." <ref>{{cite web|last1=Cohen|first1=Ken|title=A History Lesson for InsideClimate News|url=http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/11/28/a-history-lesson-for-insideclimate-news/|website=ExxonMobil Perspecitves|publisher=ExxonMobil|accessdate=Nov 30, 2016}}</ref>


ExxonMobil funded organizations critical of the [[Kyoto Protocol]] and seeking to undermine public opinion about the scientific consensus that [[global warming]] is caused by the burning of [[fossil fuel]]s. According to ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones Magazine]]'', the company channeled at least $8,678,450 between the years 2000-2003 to forty different organizations that have employed disinformation campaigns including "skeptic propaganda masquerading as journalism" to influence opinion of the public and of political leaders about global warming.<ref name="Mooney">{{cite news |url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/some_like_it_hot.html |title=Some Like It Hot |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=May 2005 |accessdate=April 29, 2007 |first=Chris |last=Mooney |authorlink=Chris Mooney (journalist)}}</ref><ref name="motherjones.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/put-tiger-your-think-tank |title=Put a Tiger In Your Think Tank |date=May 2005 |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |accessdate=October 20, 2015}}</ref> ExxonMobil has funded, among other groups, the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]], [[George C. Marshall Institute]], [[Heartland Institute]], the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] and the [[International Policy Network]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|2013|p=67}}: "in recent years, the Heartland Institute, a group that has been funded by... fossil fuel (Exxon, Koch, Scaife) interests, has financed a series of one-sided conferences on climate change, featuring a slate of climate change deniers"</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/business/exxon-backs-groups-that-question-global-warming.html |accessdate=January 29, 2016 |first=Jennifer B. |last=Lee |date=May 28, 2003 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Exxon Backs Groups that Question Global Warming |quote=the company... has increased donations to... policy groups that, like Exxon itself, question the human role in global warming and argue that proposed government policies to limit carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming are too heavy handed. Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council... Exxon has become the single-largest corporate donor to some of the groups, accounting for more than 10 percent of their annual budgets. While a few of the groups say they also receive some money from other oil companies, it is only a small fraction of what they receive from Exxon Mobil.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1361276,00.html |title=Claims by think-tank outrage eco-groups |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=UK |date=November 28, 2004 |first1=Antony |last1=Barnett |first2=Mark |last2=Townsend |accessdate=January 16, 2007 }}</ref> Since the [[Kyoto Protocol]], Exxon has given more than $20 million to organizations supporting climate change denial.<ref>{{cite book |title=Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis: Volume 1 - The Physical Climate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbtEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA461 |page=461 |author1=Thomas G Farmer |author2=John Cook |isbn=9400757573 |year=2013 |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media |quote=In the decade after the Kyoto Protocol was introduced in 1997, Exxon-Mobil invested more than $20 million in think tanks that promoted climate change denial. This inspired the Royal Society of London to challenge Exxon-Mobil to stop funding organizations that disseminated climate denial.}}</ref><ref name=guardian20050305>{{Cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1431306,00.html |title='Denial lobby' turns up the heat |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=January 27, 2016 |location=[[London]] |date=March 5, 2005 |quote=ExxonMobil, the oil major, has been accused by Friends of the Earth and others of giving millions of dollars to a long list of think-tanks and lobbyists opposed to Kyoto.}}</ref>
ExxonMobil funded organizations critical of the [[Kyoto Protocol]] and seeking to undermine public opinion about the scientific consensus that [[global warming]] is caused by the burning of [[fossil fuel]]s. According to ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones Magazine]]'', the company channeled at least $8,678,450 between the years 2000-2003 to forty different organizations that have employed disinformation campaigns including "skeptic propaganda masquerading as journalism" to influence opinion of the public and of political leaders about global warming.<ref name="Mooney">{{cite news |url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/some_like_it_hot.html |title=Some Like It Hot |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=May 2005 |accessdate=April 29, 2007 |first=Chris |last=Mooney |authorlink=Chris Mooney (journalist)}}</ref><ref name="motherjones.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/put-tiger-your-think-tank |title=Put a Tiger In Your Think Tank |date=May 2005 |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |accessdate=October 20, 2015}}</ref> ExxonMobil has funded, among other groups, the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]], [[George C. Marshall Institute]], [[Heartland Institute]], the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] and the [[International Policy Network]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|2013|p=67}}: "in recent years, the Heartland Institute, a group that has been funded by... fossil fuel (Exxon, Koch, Scaife) interests, has financed a series of one-sided conferences on climate change, featuring a slate of climate change deniers"</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/business/exxon-backs-groups-that-question-global-warming.html |accessdate=January 29, 2016 |first=Jennifer B. |last=Lee |date=May 28, 2003 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Exxon Backs Groups that Question Global Warming |quote=the company... has increased donations to... policy groups that, like Exxon itself, question the human role in global warming and argue that proposed government policies to limit carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming are too heavy handed. Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council... Exxon has become the single-largest corporate donor to some of the groups, accounting for more than 10 percent of their annual budgets. While a few of the groups say they also receive some money from other oil companies, it is only a small fraction of what they receive from Exxon Mobil.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1361276,00.html |title=Claims by think-tank outrage eco-groups |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=UK |date=November 28, 2004 |first1=Antony |last1=Barnett |first2=Mark |last2=Townsend |accessdate=January 16, 2007 }}</ref> Since the [[Kyoto Protocol]], Exxon has given millions to organizations supporting climate change denial.<ref>{{cite book |title=Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis: Volume 1 - The Physical Climate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbtEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA461 |page=461 |author1=Thomas G Farmer |author2=John Cook |isbn=9400757573 |year=2013 |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media |quote=In the decade after the Kyoto Protocol was introduced in 1997, Exxon-Mobil invested more than $20 million in think tanks that promoted climate change denial. This inspired the Royal Society of London to challenge Exxon-Mobil to stop funding organizations that disseminated climate denial.}}</ref><ref name=guardian20050305>{{Cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1431306,00.html |title='Denial lobby' turns up the heat |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=January 27, 2016 |location=[[London]] |date=March 5, 2005 |quote=ExxonMobil, the oil major, has been accused by Friends of the Earth and others of giving millions of dollars to a long list of think-tanks and lobbyists opposed to Kyoto.}}</ref>


Between 1998 and 2004, ExxonMobil granted $16&nbsp;million to select advocacy organizations which disputed the impact of global warming.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Public and Climate Change |author=[[Spencer Weart]] |url=https://www.aip.org/history/climate/public2.htm |accessdate=January 2016 |quote=Other corporations persisted in denial. The largest of all, ExxonMobil, continued to spend tens of millions of dollars on false-front organizations that amplified any claim denying the scientific consensus.}}</ref> Exxon used disinformation tactics similar to those used by the [[tobacco industry]] in its denials of the link between lung cancer and smoking, and according to a 2007 analysis by the [[Union of Concerned Scientists]], the company used "many of the same organizations and personnel to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue".<ref name="ucs200702">{{cite news |title=Smoke Mirrors & Hot Air |date=February 2007 |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/exxon_report.pdf |agency=[[Union of Concerned Scientists]] |accessdate=October 14, 2015 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mann|2015}}: The parallels with the tobacco industry, which knew about -- and hid from the public -- the health dangers of cigarette smoking, are staggering.</ref> Of 2005 grantees of ExxonMobil, 54 were found to have statements regarding climate change on their websites, of which 25 were consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change, while 39 "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence," according to a 2006 letter from the the [[Royal Society]] to ExxonMobil. The Royal Society said ExxonMobil granted $2.9 million to US organizations which "misinformed the public about climate change through their websites."<ref name=rs20060904a>{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Ward |url=http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2006/09/19/LettertoNick.pdf |title=Letter from Royal Society to ExxoMobil |agency=[[Royal Society]] |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 4, 2006 |accessdate=October 18, 2006 |format=PDF |location=London}}</ref> According to [[Drexel University]] [[environmental sociology|environmental sociologist]] [[Robert Brulle]], ExxonMobil contributed about 4% of the total funding of what Brulle identifies as the "climate change counter-movement."<ref name=frontline20121023>{{cite news |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/robert-brulle-inside-the-climate-change-countermovement/ |title=Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement" |publisher=[[PBS]] |work=''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' |date=October 23, 2012 |accessdate=February 21, 2015}}</ref>
Between 1998 and 2004, ExxonMobil granted $16&nbsp;million to select advocacy organizations which disputed the impact of global warming.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Public and Climate Change |author=[[Spencer Weart]] |url=https://www.aip.org/history/climate/public2.htm |accessdate=January 2016 |quote=Other corporations persisted in denial. The largest of all, ExxonMobil, continued to spend tens of millions of dollars on false-front organizations that amplified any claim denying the scientific consensus.}}</ref> Exxon used disinformation tactics similar to those used by the [[tobacco industry]] in its denials of the link between lung cancer and smoking, and according to a 2007 analysis by the [[Union of Concerned Scientists]], the company used "many of the same organizations and personnel to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue".<ref name="ucs200702">{{cite news |title=Smoke Mirrors & Hot Air |date=February 2007 |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/exxon_report.pdf |agency=[[Union of Concerned Scientists]] |accessdate=October 14, 2015 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mann|2015}}: The parallels with the tobacco industry, which knew about -- and hid from the public -- the health dangers of cigarette smoking, are staggering.</ref> Of 2005 grantees of ExxonMobil, 54 were found to have statements regarding climate change on their websites, of which 25 were consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change, while 39 "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence," according to a 2006 letter from the the [[Royal Society]] to ExxonMobil. The Royal Society said ExxonMobil granted $2.9 million to US organizations which "misinformed the public about climate change through their websites."<ref name=rs20060904a>{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Ward |url=http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2006/09/19/LettertoNick.pdf |title=Letter from Royal Society to ExxoMobil |agency=[[Royal Society]] |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 4, 2006 |accessdate=October 18, 2006 |format=PDF |location=London}}</ref> According to [[Drexel University]] [[environmental sociology|environmental sociologist]] [[Robert Brulle]], ExxonMobil contributed about 4% of the total funding of what Brulle identifies as the "climate change counter-movement."<ref name=frontline20121023>{{cite news |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/robert-brulle-inside-the-climate-change-countermovement/ |title=Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement" |publisher=[[PBS]] |work=''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' |date=October 23, 2012 |accessdate=February 21, 2015}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:52, 1 February 2016

The ExxonMobil climate change controversy describes ExxonMobil's activities related to climate change, especially their purposeful promotion of climate change denial. Since the 1970s, ExxonMobil engaged in research, lobbying, advertising, and grant making, some of which were conducted with the purpose of delaying widespread acceptance and action on global warming.

From the late 1970s and through the 1980s, Exxon funded internal and university collaborations, broadly in line with the developing public scientific approach. After the 1980s, Exxon was a leader in climate change denial, opposing regulations to curtail global warming. ExxonMobil funded organizations critical of the Kyoto Protocol and seeking to undermine public opinion about the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Exxon helped to found and lead the Global Climate Coalition of businesses opposed to the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2014, ExxonMobil publicly acknowledged climate change risks. It nominally supports a carbon tax.[1]

Early research

In 1966, Esso scientist James F. Black contributed to the two-volume "Weather and Climate Modification Problems and Prospects," published by the National Academies of Science, which said that the rate of build-up of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main contributor to climate change, in the atmosphere corresponded with the rate of production of carbon dioxide by human consumption of fossil fuels.[2][3] In July 1977, long before global warming was a national issue, Black, then a senior scientist in Exxon's Research & Engineering division, warned company executives, at a meeting of Exxon's Management Committee in Exxon corporate headquarters, of the danger of atmospheric carbon dioxide increases from the burning of fossil fuels.[4] The next year, Black revised and summarized his presentation, and said that independent researchers estimated a doubling of carbon dioxide levels would increase average global temperatures by as much as 2 to 3 °C (3.6 to 5.4 °F).[5]

From the late 1970s and through the 1980s, Exxon funded internal and university collaborations, broadly in line with the developing public scientific approach, and developed a reputation for expertise in atmospheric carbon dioxide.[6] Exxon launched a research program into climate change and climate modelling. Exxon budgeted more than $1 million over three years to outfit their largest supertanker, the Esso Atlantic, with a laboratory and sensors to measure the absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans.[7] Exxon later said the effort was not related to carbon dioxide emissions.[8]

In 1981, Exxon shifted its research focus to climate modelling.[9] These climate modelling efforts were part of the broad scientific consensus on climate change.[9] Between 1980 and 2015, Exxon and ExxonMobil researchers and academic collaborators published more than 50 peer reviewed papers on climate research and climate policy.[10][11]

Impact on operational planning

ExxonMobil integrated the then-current scientific understanding into its corporate operational planning. In the early 1980's Exxon's in-house climate experts raised concerns about the impact of developing the offshore East Natuna gas field (Natuna D-Alpha block) on the CO2 greenhouse problem.[12] The field is 71% carbon dioxide; if the carbon dioxide were released to the atmosphere it would become "the world's largest point source emitter of CO2". Members of Exxon's board of directors told staff that Natuna could not be developed without a cost-effective and environmentally responsible method for handling the CO2.[13] As of 2016, the East Natuna gas field has yet to be developed.[14]

In 1989, Exxon's manager of science and strategy development made a presentation to the board of directors noting the scientific consensus that gases released by burning fossil fuels could raise global temperatures between 2.7 and 8.1 °F (1.5 and 4.5 °C) by the middle of the 21st century, raising sea levels “with generally negative consequences.”[15] In 1992, the senior ice researcher, leading a Calgary-based research team in Exxon’s Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil, assessed how global warming could affect Exxon’s Arctic operations, and reported that exploration and development costs in the Beaufort Sea might be lower, while higher sea levels and rougher seas could threaten the company’s coastal and offshore infrastructure.[16][17]

Exxon routinely uses an internal "shadow price" on CO2 in its planning.[18][1]

Funding of climate change denial

In the late 1980s, Exxon became a leader in climate change denial.[19][20] Exxon was among the founding members of the Global Climate Coalition, composed of businesses opposed to greenhouse gas emission regulation.[17][21] Lee Raymond, Exxon and ExxonMobil chief executive officer from 1993 to 2006, was one of the most outspoken executives in the United States against regulation to curtail global warming,[22] and during this period Exxon helped advance climate change denial internationally.[23]

In a corporate publication of November 28th, 2015 ExxonMobil specifically denied claims made by InsideClimate News that it had curtailed carbon dioxide research in favor of climate denial. Exxon's statement noted the drop in oil prices hurt oil companies in the 1980s and this was the cause of research cut backs. The statement also claimed InsideClimate News failed to note that in Exxon's research of CO2 that "has not yet been proven that the increases in atmospheric CO2 constitute a serious problem that requires immediate action." [24]

ExxonMobil funded organizations critical of the Kyoto Protocol and seeking to undermine public opinion about the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. According to Mother Jones Magazine, the company channeled at least $8,678,450 between the years 2000-2003 to forty different organizations that have employed disinformation campaigns including "skeptic propaganda masquerading as journalism" to influence opinion of the public and of political leaders about global warming.[25][26] ExxonMobil has funded, among other groups, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, George C. Marshall Institute, Heartland Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the International Policy Network.[27][28][29] Since the Kyoto Protocol, Exxon has given millions to organizations supporting climate change denial.[30][31]

Between 1998 and 2004, ExxonMobil granted $16 million to select advocacy organizations which disputed the impact of global warming.[32] Exxon used disinformation tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry in its denials of the link between lung cancer and smoking, and according to a 2007 analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the company used "many of the same organizations and personnel to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue".[33][34] Of 2005 grantees of ExxonMobil, 54 were found to have statements regarding climate change on their websites, of which 25 were consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change, while 39 "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence," according to a 2006 letter from the the Royal Society to ExxonMobil. The Royal Society said ExxonMobil granted $2.9 million to US organizations which "misinformed the public about climate change through their websites."[35] According to Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert Brulle, ExxonMobil contributed about 4% of the total funding of what Brulle identifies as the "climate change counter-movement."[36]

In January 2007, ExxonMobil vice president for public affairs Kenneth Cohen said "we know enough now—or, society knows enough now—that the risk is serious and action should be taken". Cohen stated that, as of 2006, ExxonMobil had ceased funding of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and "'five or six' similar groups".[37] While the company did not publicly state which the other similar groups were, a May 2007 report by Greenpeace does list the five groups "at the heart of the climate change denial industry" it stopped funding as well as a list of 41 similar groups which are still receiving ExxonMobil funds.[38]

In May 2008, a week before their annual shareholder's meeting, ExxonMobil pledged in its annual corporate citizenship report that it would cut funding to "several public policy research groups whose position on climate change could divert attention" from the need to address climate change.[39] In 2008, ExxonMobil funded such organizations[40] and was named one of the most prominent promoters of climate change misinformation.[41] According to Brulle in a 2012 Frontline interview, ExxonMobil had ceased funding the climate change counter-movement by 2009,[36] but according to the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace, ExxonMobil granted $1 million to climate denial groups in 2014.[42][43] ExxonMobil granted $10,000 to the Science & Environmental Policy Project founded by climate denial advocate, physicist, and environmental scientist Fred Singer[44][45] and earlier funded the work of solar physicist Wei-Hock "Willie" Soon, who said that most global warming is caused by solar variation.[46]

In 2006, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote that "whatever small chance there was of action to limit global warming became even smaller because Exxon Mobil chose to protect its profits by trashing good science."[47] In October, 2015 American environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote in The Nation "ExxonMobil, the world’s largest and most powerful oil company, knew everything there was to know about climate change by the mid-1980s, and then spent the next few decades systematically funding climate denial and lying about the state of the science."[48]

Lobbying against emissions regulations

In February 2001, the early days of the administration of US President George W. Bush, ExxonMobil's head lobbyist in Washington wrote to the White House urging that "Clinton/Gore carry-overs with aggressive agendas" be kept out of "any decisional activities" on the US delegation to the working committees of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and recommending their replacement by scientists critical of the prevailing scientific consensus on climate change. The chairman of the IPCC, climate scientist Robert Watson, was replaced by Rajendra K. Pachauri, who was seen as more mild-mannered and industry-friendly.[49][50][51][52] A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said ExxonMobil did not have a position on the chairmanship of the IPCC.[53]

In 2006, the Royal Society expressed "concerns about ExxonMobil's funding of lobby groups that seek to misrepresent the scientific evidence relating to climate change."[54] Between 2007 and 2015, ExxonMobil gave $1.87 million to Congressional climate change deniers and $454,000 to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ExxonMobil denied funding climate denial.[55] ExxonMobil is a member of ALEC's “Enterprise Council“, its corporate leadership board.[56]

Acknowledgement of climate change

Beginning in 2004, the descendants of John D. Rockefeller, led mainly by his great-grandchildren, through letters, meetings, and shareholder resolutions, attempted to get ExxonMobil to acknowledge climate change, to abandon climate denial, and to shift towards clean energy.[57][58] In 2007, ExxonMobil for the first time disclosed to stockholders the financial risks to profitability of climate change.[59]

On February 13, 2007, ExxonMobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson acknowledged that the planet was warming while carbon dioxide levels were increasing, "but in the same speech gave an unalloyed defense of the oil industry and predicted that hydrocarbons would dominate the world’s transportation as energy demand grows by an expected 40 percent by 2030. [Tillerson] stated that there is no significant alternative to oil in coming decades, and that ExxonMobil would continue to make petroleum and natural gas its primary products."[60][61]

In April 2014, ExxonMobil released a report publicly acknowledging climate change risk for the first time. ExxonMobil predicts that a rising global population, increasing living standards and increasing energy access will result in lower greenhouse gas emissions.[62]

ExxonMobil is dismissive of the fossil fuel divestment movement, writing on ExxonMobil's blog in October, 2014 that fossil fuel divestment was "out of step with reality" and that "to not use fossil fuels is tantamount to not using energy at all."[63][64][65]

In December 2015, following similar earlier announcements, Exxon noted that if carbon regulations became a requirement, the best approach would be a carbon tax.[66]

State and federal investigations

On October 14, 2015, Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier, Democratic members of The United States House of Representatives from California, wrote to the United States Attorney General requesting an investigation into whether ExxonMobil violated any federal laws by "failing to disclose truthful information" about climate change.[67][68] On October 30, 2015, more than 40 leading US environmental and social justice organizations wrote to United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting a federal investigation into Exxon Mobil deceiving the American public about the risks of climate change.[69]

The New York Attorney General is investigating whether ExxonMobil misled the public or stock holders regarding the impact of climate change.[70][71] The Martin Act in New York state law gives the state Attorney General broad powers to investigate financial fraud.[72]

Following published reports, based on internal Exxon documents, suggesting that during the 1980s and 1990s Exxon used climate research in its business planning but simultaneously argued publicly that the science was unsettled, California Attorney General Kamala Harris is investigating whether Exxon Mobil lied to the public or shareholders about the risk to its business from climate change, possible securities fraud, and violations of environmental laws. ExxonMobil denied wrongdoing.[73][74]

Other climate change activities

Beginning in 2002, ExxonMobil has invested up to US$100m over a ten-year period to establish the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University, which "would focus on technologies that could provide energy without adding to a buildup of greenhouse gases".[75][76]

Selected ExxonMobil climate research collaborations

  • Garvey, Edward A.; Prahl, Fred; Nazimek, Kenneth; Shaw, Henry (March 1982). "Exxon global CO2 measurement system". IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. IM-31 (1): 32–36. doi:10.1109/TIM.1982.6312509.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "explains: Why Exxon Mobil would support a carbon tax". The Economist. 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  2. ^ National Academies of Science (1966). Weather and Climate Modification Problems and Prospects.
  3. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015a: "Black helped draft a National Academy of Sciences report... Published in 1966, it said the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere "agrees quite well with the rate of its production by man's consumption of fossil fuels."
  4. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015a: "By 1977... he made a presentation to the company's leading executives warning that carbon dioxide accumulating in the upper atmosphere would warm the planet and if the CO2 concentration continued to rise, it could harm the environment and humankind."
  5. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015b: "Black... warned Exxon scientists and managers that independent researchers estimated a doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere would increase average global temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit), and as much as 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) at the poles. Rainfall might get heavier in some regions, and other places might turn to desert."
  6. ^ Jerving et al. 2015: Since the late 1970s and into the 1980s, Exxon had been at the forefront of climate change research, funding its own internal science as well as research from outside experts at Columbia University and MIT.
  7. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015a: Exxon budgeted more than $1 million over three years for the tanker project to measure how quickly the oceans were taking in CO2.
  8. ^ Breslow 2015: Today, Exxon says the study had nothing to do with CO2 emissions, but an Exxon researcher involved in the project remembered it differently
  9. ^ a b Song, Lisa; Banerjee, Neela; Hasemyer, David (September 22, 2015). "Exxon Confirmed Global Warming Consensus in 1982 with In-House Climate Models". InsideClimate News. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015
  11. ^ Kheshgi, Haroon (October 13, 2015). "Exxon Mobil Contributed Peer Reviewed Publications" (PDF). ExxonMobil. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  12. ^ Batubara, Marwan; Purwanto, Widodo Wahyu; Fauzi, Akhmad (2014). "Development of East Natuna Gas Field for Fulfilling Long Term National Gas Demand" (PDF). Proceedings of the 3rd Applied Science for Technology Innovation, ASTECHNOVA 2014: 174–184. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  13. ^ Banerjee, Neela; Song, Lisa (October 8, 2015). "Exxon's Business Ambition Collided with Climate Change Under a Distant Sea". InsideClimate News. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  14. ^ Cahyafitri, Raras (2016-01-07). "Joint operation of Natuna block proposed". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  15. ^ Jennings, Katie; Grandoni, Dino; Rust, Susanne (October 23, 2015). "How Exxon went from leader to skeptic on climate change research". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  16. ^ Jerving et al. 2015: An extended open water season, Croasdale said in 1992, could potentially reduce exploratory drilling and construction costs by 30% to 50%...he advised the company to consider and incorporate potential “negative outcomes,” including a rise in the sea level, which could threaten onshore infrastructure; bigger waves, which could damage offshore drilling structures; and thawing permafrost, which could make the earth buckle and slide under buildings and pipelines.
  17. ^ a b Whitman, Elizabeth (October 10, 2015). "Exxon Arctic Drilling Benefitting From Global Warming: Oil Company Denied Climate Change Science While Factoring It Into Arctic Operations, Report Shows". International Business Times. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  18. ^ https://www.cdp.net/CDPResults/companies-carbon-pricing-2013.pdf
  19. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015a: "After a decade of frank internal discussions on global warming and conducting unbiased studies on it, Exxon changed direction in 1989 and spent more than 20 years discrediting the research its own scientists had once confirmed."
  20. ^ Goldenberg 2015 harvnb error: multiple targets (5×): CITEREFGoldenberg2015 (help)
  21. ^ Banerjee, Song & Hasemyer 2015b: "Exxon helped to found and lead the Global Climate Coalition, an alliance of some of the world's largest companies seeking to halt government efforts to curb fossil fuel emissions."
  22. ^ Herrick, Thaddeus (August 29, 2001). "Exxon CEO Lee Raymond's Stance On Global Warming Causes a Stir". The Wall Street Journal.
  23. ^ Lever-Tracy, Constance (2010). Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society. Taylor & Francis. p. 256. ISBN 9780203876213. major figures from the US (such as Exxon Mobil, conservative think-tanks and leading contrarian scientists) have helped spread climate change denial to other nations.
  24. ^ Cohen, Ken. "A History Lesson for InsideClimate News". ExxonMobil Perspecitves. ExxonMobil. Retrieved Nov 30, 2016.
  25. ^ Mooney, Chris (May 2005). "Some Like It Hot". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  26. ^ "Put a Tiger In Your Think Tank". Mother Jones. May 2005. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  27. ^ Mann 2013, p. 67: "in recent years, the Heartland Institute, a group that has been funded by... fossil fuel (Exxon, Koch, Scaife) interests, has financed a series of one-sided conferences on climate change, featuring a slate of climate change deniers"
  28. ^ Lee, Jennifer B. (May 28, 2003). "Exxon Backs Groups that Question Global Warming". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2016. the company... has increased donations to... policy groups that, like Exxon itself, question the human role in global warming and argue that proposed government policies to limit carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming are too heavy handed. Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council... Exxon has become the single-largest corporate donor to some of the groups, accounting for more than 10 percent of their annual budgets. While a few of the groups say they also receive some money from other oil companies, it is only a small fraction of what they receive from Exxon Mobil.
  29. ^ Barnett, Antony; Townsend, Mark (November 28, 2004). "Claims by think-tank outrage eco-groups". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  30. ^ Thomas G Farmer; John Cook (2013). Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis: Volume 1 - The Physical Climate. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 461. ISBN 9400757573. In the decade after the Kyoto Protocol was introduced in 1997, Exxon-Mobil invested more than $20 million in think tanks that promoted climate change denial. This inspired the Royal Society of London to challenge Exxon-Mobil to stop funding organizations that disseminated climate denial.
  31. ^ "'Denial lobby' turns up the heat". The Guardian. London. March 5, 2005. Retrieved January 27, 2016. ExxonMobil, the oil major, has been accused by Friends of the Earth and others of giving millions of dollars to a long list of think-tanks and lobbyists opposed to Kyoto.
  32. ^ Spencer Weart. "The Public and Climate Change". Retrieved January 2016. Other corporations persisted in denial. The largest of all, ExxonMobil, continued to spend tens of millions of dollars on false-front organizations that amplified any claim denying the scientific consensus. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  33. ^ "Smoke Mirrors & Hot Air" (PDF). Union of Concerned Scientists. February 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  34. ^ Mann 2015: The parallels with the tobacco industry, which knew about -- and hid from the public -- the health dangers of cigarette smoking, are staggering.
  35. ^ Ward, Bob (September 4, 2006). "Letter from Royal Society to ExxoMobil" (PDF). The Guardian. London. Royal Society. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
  36. ^ a b "Robert Brulle: Inside the Climate Change "Countermovement"". Frontline. PBS. October 23, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  37. ^ "Exxon cuts ties to global warming skeptics". MSNBC. January 12, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2007.
  38. ^ "Exxon still funding Climate Change Deniers" (Press release). Greenpeace. May 18, 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  39. ^ Adam, David (May 28, 2008). "Exxon to cut funding to climate change denial groups". The Guardian. London. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
  40. ^ Adam, David (July 1, 2009). "ExxonMobil continuing to fund climate skeptic groups, records show". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  41. ^ Harkinson, Josh (December 4, 2009). "The Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial". Mother Jones. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  42. ^ Coleman, Jesse (July 8, 2015). "Exxon Has Been Lying About Climate Change for Much Longer than We Thought". Greenpeace. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  43. ^ Shekhtman, Lonnie (September 17, 2015). "Exxon knew about climate change decades ago, spent $30M to discredit it". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  44. ^ Mann 2013, p. 282: "ABC News's Nightline [noted] that Singer had admitted to receiving "funding from Exxon, Shell, ARCO, Unocal, and Sun Oil." In a separate piece... ABC News noted that Singer "admits he once accepted an unsolicited check from Exxon for $10,000.""
  45. ^ Harris, Dan; Biberica, Felicia; Stuart, Elizabeth; Kongshaug, Nils (March 23, 2008). "Global Warming Denier: Fraud or 'Realist'?". ABC News. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  46. ^ Gillis, Justin; Schwartz, John (February 21, 2015). "Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
  47. ^ Krugman, Paul (April 17, 2006). "Enemy of the Planet". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  48. ^ McKibben, Bill (October 20, 2015). "Exxon Knew Everything There Was to Know About Climate Change by the Mid-1980s—and Denied It". The Nation. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  49. ^ Hasemyer, David; Cushman Jr., John H. (October 22, 2015). "Exxon: The Road Not Taken, Exxon Sowed Doubt about Climate Science for Decades by Stressing Uncertainty". InsideClimate News. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  50. ^ Pearce, Fred (April 19, 2002). "Top climate scientist ousted". New Scientist. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  51. ^ Borger, Julian (April 20, 2002). "US and Oil Lobby Oust Climate Change Scientist". The Guardian. London. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
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  57. ^ Foley, Stephen (October 23, 2011). "Rockefeller's descendants tell Exxon to face the reality of climate change". The Independent. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  58. ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (March 27, 2015). "Rockefeller family tried and failed to get ExxonMobil to accept climate change". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  59. ^ Lieberman, Amy; Rust, Susanne (December 31, 2015). "Big Oil braced for global warming while it fought regulations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  60. ^ Krauss, Clifford; Mouawad, Jad (February 14, 2007). "Exxon Chief Cautions Against Rapid Action to Cut Carbon Emissions". New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  61. ^ "Topics shift to the environment as oil executives meet in Texas". Los Angeles Times. February 14, 2007.
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  63. ^ Dickinson, Tim. "The Logic of Divestment: Why We Have to Kiss Off Big Carbon Now". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  64. ^ Cohen, Ken (October 10, 2014). "Some thoughts on divestment". ExxonMobil. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
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Bibliography

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