Exxon Turns Off Disinformation Tap
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.12.07
Can this be true? Can I stop boycotting Exxon/Esso? According to the Wall Street Journal, Exxon has stopped funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CO2: We call it life) and "five or six" other groups active in the global-warming debate, Kenneth Cohen, Exxon's vice president for public affairs, confirmed this week in an interview at Exxon's headquarters in Irving, Texas. He declined to identify the groups beyond CEI; their names are expected to become public in the spring, when Exxon releases its annual list of donations to nonprofit groups.Myron Ebell of last week's "Whats so bad about global warming?" article is not thrilled. "We're not at the mercy of our funders for what we believe. But we are dependent on them for funding to help promote our programs. " The article continues:
More significant are the meetings between executives from Exxon and other companies to discuss the potential structure of a U.S. carbon regulation. Several parallel tracks of discussions are under way, some sponsored by Washington think tanks, including the Brookings Institution and Resources for the Future.
The meetings underscore the view within much of U.S. industry that the science and the politics of global warming are changing. "The issue has evolved," Mr. Cohen said.
Exxon says important questions remain about the degree to which fossil-fuel emissions are contributing to global warming. But "the modeling has gotten better" analyzing the probabilities of how rising greenhouse-gas emissions will affect global temperatures, Mr. Cohen said. Exxon continues to stress the modeling is imperfect; it is "helpful to an analysis, but it's not a predictor," he said. But he added, "we know enough now -- or, society knows enough now -- that the risk is serious and action should be taken." ::Wall Street Journal via :;The Concious Earth
We'll know if teh claims are true if the denier "program" production values start to slip even further (as hard to believe as that is). If the deniers don't quiet down, then we'll be to wonder if money is just being laundered in more complex, less tax deductable, ways.
What's needed is for Exxon to publicly distance themselves from all former proxies and to align directly and openly with more "honest broker" type organizations such as RFF. I hate to see any of the more broadly scoped DC "think tanks" such as Brookings get involved more than they are, though, because it's too easy to dismiss their recommendations as "liberal" or "conservative". On the otherhand, because the issue is now transitioning to macro-economic impact analysis, it's impossible to keep the Think Tanks out of it. Too bad some major university consortia can't step in to keep the issue away from partisans.
It is hard read exactly what Exxon is doing. The oil companies are very strategic and usually one step ahead of most of us.
The are masters of the PR game and use underhanded viral and stealth methods to get twisted information posted that creates a favorable PR buzz.
Take the now famous Shell article which got play here on Treehugger "Shell Draws A Bright Line: No Food For Fuel"
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/shell_draws_a_b.php
My University of Chicago class looked at this as a classic example of viral propaganda. It takes certain facts and combines it with outright lies that creates a feel good package that cleverly reinforces Shell Oils investments and stalls public support for ethanol.
A lot of the "green sites" bought into this. The oil companies are just operating on sophistication level that make it hard to parse their true motives. The are very clever, and one has to realize their only real motive is to maintain record profit levels as long as possible. If that means throwing the bone, or red herring, that's part of the game.
I am also wary of Exxon's motives in stopping funding of these misinformation organizations. However, I believe that Exxon eventually has to do this for 'honest' reasons. The misinformation campaigns are counterproductive to them. They are not working and are, in my opinion, having a negative impact on their image. Western society as a whole is not falling for silly misinformation campaigns that insult our intelligence and our morals. And they are developing ingrained negative feelings toward Exxon - not so much because it sells oil, but more because it refuses to admit that oil is a problem and that they have to try and find solutions. A smart oil company, such as BP, will see which way the wind is blowing and go with the flow rather than fight a losing battle to change it. Eventually Exxon will also come to the conclusion that they will be better off trying to go green than continuing to fight a movement which will become as ingrained in every facet of society as human rights and freedom have become in the West. Just as no one would support or accept any type of slavery today, no one will accept or tolerate open and strident anti-greens tomorrow. They eventually have to own up to the negative realities of oil - the question is whether they have finally reached that conclusion or not.
no, exxon hasn't stopped funding the misinformation. It says it has stopped funding 4-5 of the 45 or so groups that it funds. Stopping 4-5 of the more prominent ones isn't good enough.