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Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumExxon Knew about Climate Change Almost 40 Years Ago - Scientific American
A new investigation shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote misinformation
Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue, according to a recent investigation from InsideClimate News. This knowledge did not prevent the company (now ExxonMobil and the worlds largest oil and gas company) from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformationan approach many have likened to the lies spread by the tobacco industry regarding the health risks of smoking. Both industries were conscious that their products wouldnt stay profitable once the world understood the risks, so much so that they used the same consultants to develop strategies on how to communicate with the public.
Experts, however, arent terribly surprised. Its never been remotely plausible that they did not understand the science, says Naomi Oreskes, a history of science professor at Harvard University. But as it turns out, Exxon didnt just understand the science, the company actively engaged with it. In the 1970s and 1980s it employed top scientists to look into the issue and launched its own ambitious research program that empirically sampled carbon dioxide and built rigorous climate models. Exxon even spent more than $1 million on a tanker project that would tackle how much CO2 is absorbed by the oceans. It was one of the biggest scientific questions of the time, meaning that Exxon was truly conducting unprecedented research.
MORE:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/
Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue, according to a recent investigation from InsideClimate News. This knowledge did not prevent the company (now ExxonMobil and the worlds largest oil and gas company) from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformationan approach many have likened to the lies spread by the tobacco industry regarding the health risks of smoking. Both industries were conscious that their products wouldnt stay profitable once the world understood the risks, so much so that they used the same consultants to develop strategies on how to communicate with the public.
Experts, however, arent terribly surprised. Its never been remotely plausible that they did not understand the science, says Naomi Oreskes, a history of science professor at Harvard University. But as it turns out, Exxon didnt just understand the science, the company actively engaged with it. In the 1970s and 1980s it employed top scientists to look into the issue and launched its own ambitious research program that empirically sampled carbon dioxide and built rigorous climate models. Exxon even spent more than $1 million on a tanker project that would tackle how much CO2 is absorbed by the oceans. It was one of the biggest scientific questions of the time, meaning that Exxon was truly conducting unprecedented research.
MORE:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/
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Exxon Knew about Climate Change Almost 40 Years Ago - Scientific American (Original Post)
Electric Monk
Oct 2015
OP
leveymg
(36,418 posts)1. It's a lot like Big Tobacco's attempt to bury cancer studies
before the Surgeon General's Report. Then they got sued and stopped. Big Oil needs to be brought into court and made to start paying.
global1
(25,242 posts)2. Do You Think The Repugs Will Believe Now?.....nt
daleanime
(17,796 posts)3. Ha, ha, ha.....
no.
wundermaus
(1,673 posts)4. Crimes against humanity...
pales when compared with what these monsters committed: an extinction level event.
There is no punishment equal to the extent of damage to our earth's biosphere.
What do you do to people that knowingly set in motion the extermination of life on a planetary scale?
Is there a word for this?
I can not imagine it.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)5. A handy poster for your wall