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UCS: Exxon Mobil Funded "Disinformation" on Global Warming

We were shocked — shocked! — at today’s report by the Union of Concerned Scientists that Exxon Mobil Corporation had given not one, not two, but $16 million to 40-odd "ideological groups" between 1998 and 2005 "in a coordinated effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming." While Exxon Mobil nobly […]

We were shocked — shocked! — at today's report by the Union of Concerned Scientists that Exxon Mobil Corporation had given not one, not two, but $16 million to 40-odd "ideological groups" between 1998 and 2005 "in a coordinated effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science behind global warming."

While Exxon Mobil nobly declined immediate comment, we'd like to speak up on their behalf.

Let's be honest: If anyone has an axe to grind here, isn't it these so-called "scientists"? After all, aren't "concerned" and "biased" practically synonyms? (As for "union," well, that just seals the deal.)

Besides, Exxon Mobil? As in "Exxon Valdez"? Be serious. Those people are professionals. If you don't believe me, just look at the numbers.

In a double-reverse neo-Godwin, the "concerned scientists" even invoke the T-word:

Satellite image of the Ayles Ice Shelf

Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists' strategy and policy director, said in a teleconference that Exxon Mobil based its tactics on those of tobacco companies, spreading uncertainty by misrepresenting peer-reviewed scientific studies or cherry-picking facts.

To top it off, the claim isn't original: Last September, The Royal Society, Britain's leading scientific academy, wrote to Exxon Mobil asking it to halt support for groups that "misrepresented the science of climate change."

Bottom line: If these "scientists" are so "concerned," let them spend their time on something useful. How about a superglue for ice shelves?