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Exxon Mobil misrepresented climate change to deliberately mislead the public

Exxon accused by Harvard researchers of misleading public on climate change, ABC News 24 Aug 17 Two Harvard University researchers say they have collected data proving Exxon Mobil Corp made “explicit factual misrepresentations” in newspaper ads it purchased to convey its views on the oil industry and climate science.

In an article in the journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes said they examined 187 documents, including internal memos, peer-reviewed papers by Exxon scientists and “advertorials” that ran in The New York Times — paid advertisements in the style of opinion pieces.

The researchers said they used a social science analysis method to turn statements in the documents into data points that could be counted and compared to each other.

Exxon ‘consistently asserted doubt’ on climate change

Mr Supran and Ms Oreskes said as early as 1979, Exxon scientists acknowledged burning fossil fuels was adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise, but they said the company’s position in newspaper ads remained significantly different by consistently asserting doubt about climate science.

The study was funded by the Rockefeller family philanthropies, which previously supported a campaign to prove Exxon knew more than it publicly admitted about climate change.

That campaign used the slogan #ExxonKnew…..

Ms Oreskes said the Rockefeller family funding did not affect the study’s outcome.

She said the impetus for the study came from Exxon’s responses to reports in InsideClimate News and The Los Angeles Times in September 2015 and October 2015, respectively, that Exxon’s scientists had long known of the dangers fossil fuels posed to the earth’s climate…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-24/exxon-climate-change-misled-public-harvard-researchers-say/8837894

August 25, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA