Exxon still aids climate skeptics

Simulposted with

The Australian

One of the world’s largest oil companies has broken its pledge to stop funding groups that promote scepticism about man-made climate change.

ExxonMobil gave almost £stg 1 million ($1.75m) last year to organisations that campaigned against controls on greenhouse gas emissions.

Several made outspoken attacks on climate scientists at the University of East Anglia and argued that their leaked emails showed the dangers of global warming had been grossly exaggerated.

The scientists were exonerated this month by an independent inquiry, but groups funded by Exxon have continued to lambast them. The Media Research Centre, which received $US50,000 ($57,500) last year from Exxon, called the inquiry a “whitewash” and condemned “climate alarmists”.

Some of Exxon’s largest donations were to groups that lobbied against a global deal on emissions being reached at last December’s climate summit in Copenhagen. The value of Exxon’s oil and gas investments could fall sharply if governments adopt aggressive plans to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.

The energy giant had indicated it was pulling back from funding sceptics. In its 2007 corporate citizenship report, it stated: “In 2008, we will discontinue contributions to several public policy groups whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion on how the world will secure energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Exxon also gave reassurances last year that it had no funding links with the sceptics’ biggest annual conference, the International Conference on Climate Change. But a list published by Exxon this month of its “2009 worldwide contributions and investments” revealed it had given four co-sponsors of the New York event $US275,000. It also gave $US1m to 20 other sceptic groups.

Bob Ward, policy director at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, who has been monitoring Exxon’s links to sceptic groups, said: “Exxon has engaged in a public relations campaign to convince the world that it has stopped funding climate sceptic groups. But this has turned out to be pure greenwash. Exxon has continued to provide financial support for many groups that are engaged in activities to persuade the public and policy-makers into wrongly believing that climate change is a hoax.”

Four of the groups funded by Exxon – the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Media Research Centre, the Pacific Research Institute and the Heritage Foundation — co-sponsored the New York conference.

Exxon recently announced it would no longer fund the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Media Research Centre or the Pacific Research Institute.

RELATED
How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic: Responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming, A Grist Special Series
http://www.grist.org/article/series/skeptics/