“Exxon first got interested in climate change in 1981 because it was seeking to develop the Natuna gas field off Indonesia”, Lenny Bernstein, a 30-year industry veteran and Exxon’s ex- in-house climate expert, wrote in the email.
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Exxon, unlike other companies and the public at large in the early 1980s, was already aware of climate change – and the prospect of regulations to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, according to Bernstein’s account.
In a report entitled The Climate Deception Dossier, the group revealed that the American oil company has known about the adverse effects of greenhouse gases on global warming since 1981. Taken together, the documents show that these six companies-in conjunction with the American Petroleum Institute (API), the oil and gas industry’s premier trade association, and a host of front groups-have known for at least two decades that their products are harmful and have intentionally deceived the public about the climate change threat.
Exxon, however, did not push through with its development of the Natuna gas field because of the projected implications for the environment. National Academy of Science said it has now become clear that Exxon was aware of the climate change dangers and the solutions 27 years ago. “Whatever their public stance, internally they make very careful assessments of the potential for regulation, including the scientific basis for those regulations”.
It’s unclear if any other oil companies were thinking about the climate impacts of their projects back in 1981, but as UCS president Ken Kimmell notes in a press release, the industry overall missed its opportunity to lead on the issue.
Among the documents was an email by Leonard S. Bernstein, a ex- Exxon and Mobile employee who also served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Wednesday’s report includes seven “deception dossiers” containing 85 internal company and trade association documents showing a “coordinated campaign underwritten by the world’s major fossil fuel companies and their allies to spread climate misinformation and block climate action”, the report said. By then, the broad scientific consensus about climate change had become common knowledge, making denial an increasingly unpalatable public position.
Exxon and other industry organizations argued that there was too much uncertainty about global warming to warrant such cuts.
An ExxonMobil spokesman told the Guardian that the company now acknowledges climate change as a risk.
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The revelations in the Bernstein email had a familiar ring to ex- federal Department of Justice lawyer Sharon Eubanks. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
