Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue, according to a recent investigation from InsideClimate News. This knowledge did not prevent the company (now ExxonMobil and the world’s largest oil and gas company) from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformation—an approach many have likened to the lies spread by the tobacco industry regarding the health risks of smoking. Both industries were conscious that their products wouldn’t stay profitable once the world understood the risks, so much so that they used the same consultants to develop strategies on how to communicate with the public.
link.
2 comments:
Yeaaaahh, I don't buy it. From all the data I've seen on this issue, much more than presented here, Exxon parroted nothing different than the mainstream ideas of that time. Certainly they had no insider data of their own, and just had graphs from other publications already in the literature about climate change. Basically, they knew Exactly what everyone else already knew and no more than that. But considering the outright, natural bias of this source link, I am not shocked how they would try to spin this.
I read a memo from the military circa 1978 stating the 1970s had been an unusually warm decade. /They/ were stating this may or may not continue. However, the military isn't a bunch of climate scientists. Its entirely possible someone put two and two together earlier than others.
That Exxon would, especially after the passing of the clean air act, as part of their studies to figure out what they have to do for that legislation would make sense on a level.
Post a Comment