This is News? Scientists Slam Exxon for Disinformation Campaign
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01. 4.07
Remember CO2: We Call it Life? Now The Union of Concerned Scientists has released a report looking at the ExxonMobil disinformation campaign covered in TreeHugger many times. They find that "ExxonMobil has manufactured uncertainty about the human causes of global warming just as tobacco companies denied their product caused lung cancer," said Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists' Director of Strategy & Policy. "A modest but effective investment has allowed the oil giant to fuel doubt about global warming to delay government action just as Big Tobacco did for over 40 years."
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.
"When one looks closely, ExxonMobil's underhanded strategy is as clear and indisputable as the scientific research it's meant to discredit," said Seth Shulman, an investigative journalist who wrote the UCS report. "The paper trail shows that, to serve its corporate interests, ExxonMobil has built a vast echo chamber of seemingly independent groups with the express purpose of spreading disinformation about global warming."
read the press release from the ::Union of Concerned Scientists and the ::Full Report PDF
I wish we would stop giving citizens a free pass by blaming the wrong groups like Exxon. Companies are under no obligation to be engines of social and policy change. That's not their job. Their job is to make money, and they do this by selling us what we want. Unfortunately we want oil, and lots of it.
Rather than blaming companies for making profits, we should be blaming ourselves. Companies respond to consumers. What message are we sending when we keep demanding more gas for our oversized cars and voting down windmills that spoil our views of the ocean. Look at Walmart as an example. They are greening up not because they feel a commitment to the environment but because it makes fiscal sense. Increasing efficiency reduces expenses and promotes a more positive view of the company to shoppers. Get Exxon to spend its 35 billion dollar profit on renewables by using less gas and purchasing your electricity from green sources.
A friend of mine told me how impressed he was buy "An Inconvenient Truth" so I asked what he was going to do about climate change. He said "Nothing. I already do enough." Hogwash! Too many people I know share this outlook. They think their responsibility ends with voting for the right people and trying to convince others about the dangers of global warming; but they never actually DO anything. It's far too easy to sit back and blame Exxon. The inconveniet truth is that WE are really the ones at fault.
I somewhat agree with what you are saying, but as members of the human race, do the powers that run Exxon not feel some sort of guilt for being an ecologically irresponsible company?
I'd like to point out, Marc, that while we as consumers definitely need to make better choices about the Earth, nothing excuses Exxon Mobil for spreading false information in an effort to maintain its own economic status.
It's ridiculous to not lay some of the blame on Exxon Mobil, or to let them get away scott free with paying "scientists" to falsely advertise how their goods really AREN'T doing anything to destroy the planet. We have laws against that for very good reasons, you know?
Of course people need to do better and stop thinking whatever they're doing is enough.
But by not raising a ruckus when companies aren't being responsible, by giving them the whole "heck, they're just profit machines" excuse, aren't we just ensuring that even less gets done on their part?
(By the way, AWESOME new layout, treehugger!)
I'm calling for a boycott of all Mobil stuff. So next time I get any work related to their job. I'm going to have a problem. Hmmm, sounds like I should be talking to people at my business to see what kind of clout we can pour into their company.
Honestly, you all need to realize that driving cars is not going to end the world. Big Corporations are not the problem, its people like you who whine and complain for ne reason. CO2 is soo scary and its ruining the world!!!! Hey, why don't you stop breathing then, you're adding to the emissions, and the stupidity of this world.