I post this to again remind us that a great deal of what we read and
tend to believe is "news" that is manufactured and manipulated by
some entity other than the ostensible author. Never forget, let the
reader beware.
‘Greenwashing’ Oil
A report says the world’s largest corporation funded studies that
cast doubts on the link between fossil fuels and climate change.
Web Exclusive
By Jerry Adler
Newsweek
Updated: 5:10 p.m. MT Jan 4, 2007
Jan. 4, 2007 - For more than three decades, the tobacco industry
carried on a campaign of disinformation intended to mislead Americans
about the health risks of smoking—a strategy that has been dubbed
“manufacturing uncertainty” in the minds of consumers. And ever
since global warming emerged as an environmental threat, there has
been a well-funded public campaign to cast doubt on the scientific
consensus about the danger of global warming and its source in fossil-
fuel combustion. A report this week by the Union of Concerned
Scientists finds a parallel between the efforts to whitewash tobacco
and “greenwash” oil—and points the finger of responsibility at
the world’s largest corporation, ExxonMobil.
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Under its former chairman and CEO, Lee Raymond, who retired in 2005
as one of the best-paid corporate executives in history, ExxonMobil
was well known for its hostility to government regulations on
emissions of carbon dioxide. But, according to the report, the op-eds
and position papers were only the visible tip of Exxon’s effort to
fund a small group of researchers and an overlapping network of think
tanks that could be relied on to spread the message that global
warming was nothing to worry about—or at least, nothing the
government could or should do anything about. Their frequently
repeated call for “sound science” on global warming echoes the
tobacco industry’s endless demand for more research on whether
cigarettes really, truly, unquestionably cause cancer.
Of course, cigarette companies weren’t concerned just about future
sales, but the billions of dollars in compensation they eventually
had to … umm … cough up. ExxonMobil’s motivation, presumably, is
to protect a fantastically lucrative market: its 2005 profits of $36
billion made it the most profitable corporation in history. But that
very wealth puts them in a position both to shape and eventually
dominate the postcarbon energy world, if they choose to do so.
Ironically, as the report points out, the company and its
shareholders will suffer if it gets left behind in the transition to
less polluting forms of energy.