EXXON MOBIL spent $16m to mislead public on global warming, group says.

Oil giant 'paid groups to mislead public' on warming

RAW STORYPublished: Wednesday January 3, 2007

Oil conglomerate ExxonMobil paid interest groups to "mislead the public" on climate concerns, a science advocacy organization alleges.

"ExxonMobil Corp. gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 in a coordinated effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming," says the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), according to an Associated Press article.

The oil giant "has manufactured uncertainty about the human causes of global warming just as tobacco companies denied their product caused lung cancer," a spokesman with the watchdog group said during a telephone news conference announcing the assertions, Reuters reports.

A press release by the UCS lists multiple charges against ExxonMobil as outlined in its extensive report. It accuses the oil giant of, among other things:

Raising doubts about "indisputable" scientific evidence;

Funding various "front organizations" to give the impression of a "tight-knit group of vocal climate change contrarians";

Using its ties to the White House to "block federal policies and shape government communications on global warming."

The UCS press release and full report can be read at this link.