Big Oil Studied Climate Danger Earlier Than Imagined, Archives Show

Investigative journalists found memos in 2015 that shows industries knew since the 1970s (and trade associations since the 1950s, coal industry since 1960, and automotive since the 1970s) that fossil fuels caused global warming with dramatic results occurring before 2050. ExxonMobil had climate models that were more accurate than academia or government yet their advertising greenwashes the problem.

I also remember my father, as a local politician and automotive engineering professor, discussing this in the 1960s and 1970s saying the problem and lack of solution tracks back to these industries sitting on each others board of directors supporting each others profit motives.

It will only stop when it costs industry more through taxes and lawsuits just like dangerous automobile designs ended when lawsuits costed more that retooling for a major design change.

"In 2015, investigative journalists discovered internal company memos indicating that Exxon oil company has known since the late 1970s that its fossil fuel products could lead to global warming with “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050.” Additional documents then emerged showing that the US oil and gas industry’s largest trade association had likewise known since at least the 1950s, as had the coal industry since at least the 1960s, and electric utilities, Total oil company, and GM and Ford motor companies since at least the 1970s. "

"For decades, some members of the fossil fuel industry tried to convince the public that a causative link between fossil fuel use and climate warming could not be made because the models used to project warming were too uncertain. Supran et al. show that one of those fossil fuel companies, ExxonMobil, had their own internal models that projected warming trajectories consistent with those forecast by the independent academic and government models. What they understood about climate models thus contradicted what they led the public to believe."

"In 2017...we demonstrated that Exxon’s internal documents, as well as peer-reviewed studies published by Exxon and ExxonMobil Corp scientists, overwhelmingly acknowledged that climate change is real and human-caused. By contrast, the majority of Mobil and ExxonMobil Corp’s public communications promoted doubt on the matter."

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/01/harvard-led-analysis-finds-exxonmobil-internal-research-accurately-predicted-climate-change/

Exxon scientists predicted global warming with 'shocking skill and accuracy,' Harvard researchers say

In the study, scientists showed how the multinational energy giant worked to cloud the issue.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/01/harvard-led-analysis-finds-exxonmobil-internal-research-accurately-predicted-climate-change/

This land belongs to all Americans and not just a few profiteers. Big oil lobbyist influence Congress way more than voice of the people being affected by the decisions oil companies. The Great Lakes region is especially vulnerable considering the potential for water contamination. People protest the development of pipelines through our most valuable asset and get completely ignored by Congress in favour of money flowing into campaign funds. 

Like no bail---no consequences unless Republican

Anyone with a IQ knows about the pollution of the Industrial age.

Unbelievable - Exxon CEO tries to blame public for climate change when Big Oul is the largest contributor to green house gases driving climate change. However this didn't stop Exxon from taking government subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act to build a clean energy business. NOTE: all sources in the Guardian story have hyperlinks to read (research studies, Fortune interview in YouTube)

"As the world’s largest investor-owned oil company, Exxon is among the top contributors to global planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions. But in an interview, published on Tuesday, Woods argued that big oil is not primarily responsible for the climate crisis"

"Experts say Woods’s rhetoric is part of a larger attempt to skirt climate accountability. No new major oil and gas infrastructure can be built if the world is to avoid breaching agreed temperature limits but Exxon, along with other major oil companies currently basking in record profits, is pushing ahead with aggressive fossil-fuel expansion plans."

"It’s like a drug lord blaming everyone but himself for drug problems,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia business school."

“I hate to tell you, but you’re the chief executive of the largest publicly traded oil company, you have influence, you make decisions that matter. Exxon are at the mercy of markets but they are also shaping them, they are shaping policy. So no, you can’t blame the public for the failure to fix climate change.”

"Troves of internal documents and analyses have over the past decade established that Exxon knew of the dangers of global heating as far back as the 1970s, but forcefully and successfully worked to sow doubt about the climate crisis and stymie action to clamp down on fossil fuel usage. The revelations have inspired litigation against Exxonacross the US."

“What they’re really trying to do is to whitewash their own history, to make it invisible,” said Robert Brulle, an environment policy expert at Brown University who has researched climate disinformation spread by the fossil-fuel industry.

"A 2021 analysis also demonstrated that Exxon had downplayed its own role in the climate crisis for decades in public-facing messaging."

“The playbook is this: sell consumers a product that you know is dangerous, while publicly denying or downplaying those dangers. Then, when the dangers are no longer deniable, deny responsibility and blame the consumer,” said Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard historian of science and co-author of the 2021 paper."

"Last year, another study co-authored by Oreskes found that Exxon’s own scientists “correctly and skillfully” predicted the trajectory of global warming, then spent decades sowing doubt about climate science and policies in order to protect its business model."

"In the Tuesday interview, however, Woods says the world “waited too long” to develop carbon-free technologies. He said Exxon “recognized the need to decarbonize” and that a carbon tax would help achieve this, while also defending the oil giant’s comparatively meager investment in renewable energy, pointing to focus upon more nascent technologies, such as carbon capture and hydrogen fuels."

"Exxon does not “see the ability to generate above-average returns for investors” from established clean energy generation such as wind and solar, Woods said.

“We recognize a need for that. We just don’t see that as an appropriate use of ExxonMobil’s capabilities,” he added.

Woods does not mention that his company lobbiedto fend off provisions in an earlier version of the legislation that would have levied heavy taxes on polluting companies to pay for climate efforts, or that a top Exxon lobbyist was filmed saying that the firm’s support for a carbon tax was a public relations strategy meant to stall more serious climate policies.

“For decades, they told us that the science was too uncertain to justify action, that it was premature to act, and that we could and should wait and see how things developed,” said Oreskes. “Now the CEO says: oh dear, we’ve waited too long. If this isn’t gaslighting, I don’t know what is.”

"Wagner said that Exxon was touting its ambition to slash the emissions of its own operations while also betting that the rest of the world won’t do the same, in order to continue selling oil."

“He can’t have it both ways in saying ‘we are an energy company’ but then basically ignoring the cheapest source of electricity in history as something Exxon should be investing in,” he said."

"The video interview comes as Exxon is pursuing a lawsuit against activist shareholders who are aiming to push Exxon to take up stricter environmental standards. Those shareholders, Woods said, were trying to stop Exxon’s central business model of selling oil and gas, which it won’t accede to.

“We want to cater to the shareholders who are real investors, who have an interest in seeing this company succeed in generating return on their investments,” he said. “We don’t feel a responsibility to activists that hijack that process … and frankly, abuse it to advance an ideology.”

"Exxon has received subsidies to build out its clean energy business from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Fortune chief executive Alan Murray pointed out in the interview. But Woods argued that “building a business on government subsidy is not a long-term sustainable strategy”.

"The way that the government is incentivized and trying to catalyze investments in this space is through subsidies,” he said. “Driving significant investments at a scale that even gets close to moving the needle is going to cost a lot of money.”

"But the vast majority of Exxon’s own investments are still being put toward fossil fuel expansion, said Brulle."

“This is what they do: they’re going to basically blame the victim, the American public,” he said.

“They spend on fossil fuels and they spend billions trying to influence public opinion, but we’re supposed to foot the bill for the damage.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/04/exxon-chief-public-climate-failures

NO

Causes lives these sound byte polls without a whole lot of information........

Why do people fall for it? Are they just sheep validating feelings without all the facts?

The urgent need to hold big oil companies accountable for their environmental impact has never been more critical. As we face the escalating consequences of climate change, it’s evident that the practices of these corporations have played a significant role in exacerbating the crisis. For decades, the extraction, production, and consumption of fossil fuels have led to significant greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and the destabilization of our planet’s climate systems.

Moreover, the environmental degradation caused by oil spills, deforestation, and pollution has had devastating effects on ecosystems, wildlife, and human communities alike. These actions cannot go unchecked. It’s time for stringent regulations, transparent practices, and a genuine commitment to sustainable and renewable energy sources.

Holding big oil accountable isn’t just about imposing fines or sanctions; it’s about ensuring a shift towards responsible, environmentally friendly practices that safeguard our planet for future generations. This includes investing in clean energy, supporting policies that reduce carbon emissions, and being transparent with environmental impact assessments.

As individuals, we have the power to influence this change through our choices, advocacy, and by demanding that our elected officials enact and enforce policies that prioritize our planet’s health over corporate profits. The time for action is now; we must come together to demand a sustainable future, one where big oil is held responsible for its role in the climate crisis.

Yes! YES! and HELL YES!!! For decades we've needed to punish not just the oil companies by destroying their grip on American infrastructure, but also imprisoning and stripping all wealth away from the individuals and families of those who profit from the sale of fossil fuels. When nobody can make money off oil, not even the Saudis, the profits can be put towards transitioning to clean energy. The response is often that this is impossible when there are laws protecting the ultrawealthy and an entire political party protecting big polluters, but getting off fossil fuels is the absolute most important thing we can do in the next decade. 

Fossil fuel accountability is long overdue! 

It's way past time we prioritized the health and safety of people and the planet over the profits of billionaires!

The same as Big Tobacco or any other industry whose research showed that they were harming the world and continued to do so with impunity anyway.

I mean, make it expensive enough for them to sell oil that it's worth it to the energy companies to invest in renewable sources instead (or at the same time, at least).

They must pay for their greed and damage they have knowingly produced to our environment.

Stop subsidizing the huge profits made by the fossil fuel industry and their dishonest claims about climate change.

Yes! The fossil fuel industry be held accountable!   Since Scotus ruled that Corporations are people.....if my neighbor poisons my water supply they are accountable.  They go to prison.  So, as Corporations are people, by the right wing SCOTUS ruling, then if they damage my environment they must be held accountable.  Their Ceo's and their CFO's and their BOD's should all go to prison.

When are we going to learn not to trust big business to do what is right for the average American? They rarely do. I guess as long as they keep giving money to your campaigns, you'll keep allowing them to do what they want. Shame on you.

Charge the companies a portion but go back to all the executives who had a part in keeping things quiet and  take away all the millions the made hiding things at the expense of the poor.

Big Oil along with all other major polluters have to be held accountabe for their role in destroying our envioroment and natural resources that all are deprived of for their actions to make billions in profit over human and animal as well as the planet and natural resources we'll never be able to use ever again .

Sincerely , Dr. Tammy King

They know exactly why & how what they're doing is wrong. However, until politicians stop accepting kickbacks to keep the process going, there is literally nothing us constituents can do....except vote out the kiss-asses. 

Fossil fuels are destroying the planet.  Floods, droughts and extremes in weather are caused by our use of fossil fuels

This is very similar to the tobacco industry's attempt to deflect and obscure the health hazards of smoking tobacco.  They had to face the music about their falsehoods.  Big Oil needs to face the same reckoning.