DENIAL AND DECEPTION: A Chronicle of ExxonMobil’s Efforts to Corrupt the Debate on Global Warming A Report by May 2002 Acknowledgements The report was written and researched by Janet Sawin and Kert Davies, using research and reports by Greenpeace United Kingdom, Ross Gelbspan, Kirsty Hamilton and Bill Hare. Special thanks to the Ozone Action files. Greenpeace is grateful to the founda- tions, donors and members who support our global warming campaign. Foreward One way to look at human history is through the peri- experiment on the global climate. We have already odic struggles between those embodying the cor- been provided a glimpse of what happens as global rupting influence of power and those who have kept warming goes unabated, from the loss of low lying such power in check or even successfully under- island nations and beaches the world over, to the mined it. The American Revolution is arguably the spread of infectious diseases, disrupted agriculture, birth of the freedom movement in the Western world, more severe weather cycles including super storms, although the British might argue that the birth of the more droughts, more floods, and ultimately the mas- "rights of man" came from the issuing of the Magna sive die-off of the great forests, the disappearance of Carta and frankly, all cultures can point to great liber- many glaciers, and the further accelerated loss of ators of one era or another. biodiversity. Regardless of where it began, every massive center ExxonMobil’s role in defeating efforts to stop global of unaccountable power, whether it be the Roman warming is impressive. It has included the paying of Catholic Church of the Middle Ages, the city states of skeptic scientists to confuse the public and the lob- Europe or the ideology based governments of the bying and paying of politicians to do nothing – all the last century have all met their match and ultimately way up to the White House. It has included intimi- lost their power when enough people were pushed to dating credible scientists who hold the majority view the breaking point and chose to take back their that global warming is happening and is, in part, driv- inalienable rights. en by humans. All of this history has finally been pulled together into one concise well-documented ExxonMobil is now such a power. Unaccountable to report that reads like it should be turned into a the U.S. Congress, calling out orders to the White screenplay like "Erin Brockovich" and "A Civil House, afoul of countless regulations governing envi- Action." ronmental behavior at all levels of government, pay- ing politicians for favors, and undermining the very But what is most hopeful, despite the frightening reasons American colonists fought for the right to a nature of the report, is that activists the world over "more perfect union." are now looking at ExxonMobil as the key corpora- tion creating the logjam over global warming. Further, As has been documented in the pages that follow in the growing awareness of ExxonMobil’s human rights the latest Greenpeace report: Denial and Deception: A violations around the world, an expanding student Chronicle of ExxonMobil’s Corruption of the Debate on activist movement in the U.S., boycotts in the U.S. Global Warming, ExxonMobil, the world’s second and UK, religious leaders organizing against largest corporation has successfully used its profits ExxonMobil for justice, one thing is certain: a widely to stall efforts to stop the greatest ecological threat distributed, organic campaign is developing against facing the world today – global warming. ExxonMobil that is seeking to reform this corporation on many levels. Corporations that have sought haven in democracies and then used these rights to circumvent, ignore or It remains to be seen just how much pressure for change laws to their whims have come under the positive change will be generated against glare of the modern day freedom fighters. As has ExxonMobil. Its willful acts of arrogance in dealing been documented in this report, ExxonMobil stands with the environmental problems it creates and its out as perhaps the most significant organization on human rights abuses, have made ExxonMobil the Earth pushing civilization headlong into a dangerous most commonly discussed target for reform since the i anti-WTO protests in Seattle. ExxonMobil is now standing in the path of history, which has provided spectacular examples of David beating Goliath, across the 20th century including the movement led by Gandhi to free the Indian people, the U.S. civil rights movement and Solidarity’s defeat of Polish communism. The goliath ExxonMobil may provide the perfect catalyst for much needed reform of cor- porate power. As Ken Cohen, ExxonMobil’s head of government relations and public affairs noted to The Guardian (July 11, 2001), "We know we have a giant target painted on our chests." I have no doubt that ExxonMobil will either fall or reform in due time. Wrongful behavior, whether out of malice or ignorance cannot long stand. The ques- tion, however, remains, will ExxonMobil be stopped before global warming is beyond the point of no return? Only time will tell. In the meantime, Greenpeace will do everything in its power to stop ExxonMobil’s rampant disregard for the planet and its people. This report provides a foundational piece of research to aid in the efforts of activists the world over to kick off the 21st century with either a great reformation or an even greater dissolution of ExxonMobil, the most powerful entity to have sucked the life out of the efforts to stop global warming. There is still time to breathe new life into those efforts once ExxonMobil is cleared from the path. Rave on, John Passacantando Executive Director ii Executive Summary Global warming eclipses all other environmental chal- standing or for further identification of potential solu- lenges of the 21st century. There is undeniable proof tions.”i Conversely said Dahan, ExxonMobil has that pollution from the burning of oil, coal and other “become increasingly convinced that the only sensi- fossil fuels is the root cause of the observed climate ble approach is to take a longer term perspective,” changes to date. Global warming is already occurring, adding that “if warming turns out to be a real prob- with evidence piling up weekly of radical climate dis- lem, will we be willing to shut down the economies of ruption. If left unchecked, the catastrophe of global the industrialized world…?”ii warming threatens to cause weather disasters and climate disruption that will destabilize and destroy This report, Denial and Deception: A Chronicle of ecosystems, economies and societies worldwide. ExxonMobil’s Efforts to Corrupt the Global Warming Debate, details more than a decade of deliberate and Throughout the last decade, ExxonMobil has been persistent efforts by ExxonMobil and its front groups viewed internationally as the number one company to derail the evolving global warming treaty and the driving the ongoing industry campaign to derail the scientific consensus that urgently supports the international agreement to solve global warming. international agreement. The report also delves into While other oil companies are still polluting the envi- emerging ties between the ExxonMobil agenda and ronment and lobbying for pro-oil policies, the damaging global warming legacy of the Bush ExxonMobil epitomizes the worst of corporate administration. America’s onslaught against climate protection. Prior to the 1999 merger, both Exxon and Mobil were lead- Since the early 1990s, Exxon and Mobil have taken ers of American oil industry efforts against global leading roles in industry efforts to cast doubt over cli- warming action. The merger of these two giants truly mate science. With the now defunct Global Climate created what some have called the “Death Star” of Coalition front group and others, ExxonMobil has the global warming debate. claimed that the scientists are getting it wrong on global warming and the role of fossil fuels. This ongo- ExxonMobil and their allies have long spearheaded a ing effort was spawned by the revelations of the first corporate war against environmental regulations that report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate threaten to control the negative attributes of their Change (IPCC) in 1990, which pointed to strong and core business – fossil fuel exploitation and use. They growing evidence of temperature rise, sea level rise give millions of dollars to political campaigns and and other changes resulting from rising emissions of candidates and spend millions more on lobbyists and carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. advertisements in order to achieve policies that allow That report stressed the need for a 60 to 80 percent them to act with impunity. As a result of this effort cut in CO2 emissions just to stabilize rising atmos- they get large financial payback in the form of gov- pheric concentrations of this greenhouse gas. This ernment subsidies, tax breaks, and access to public call for emission cuts was received by Exxon, Mobil lands. and others as a direct attack on their core business. ExxonMobil continues to stall the debate. In early ExxonMobil’s campaign to slow the progress of sci- May, René Dahan, the Director and Executive Vice entific validation of global warming started with the President of ExxonMobil, speaking at the G-8 Energy use of paid skeptic scientists to publicly rebut scien- Ministers meeting in Detroit, stated that “with regard tific advances. Exxon has also actively engaged in to potential climate change, some people have manipulation of international scientific assessments. decided not to wait for additional scientific under- In 1998, Exxon was involved in developing a $6 mil- iii lion American Petroleum Institute communications getting ‘off the hook’ by not having to cut their emis- plan for a two-year campaign intended to reshape sions.