Science Committee Chair Demands Exxon reveal 2007 think tank grants

onMay 18, 2007 @ 16:39 PDT

Rep. Brad Miller (D-North Carolina), chair of the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology, fired off a strong letter (pdf) to ExxonMobil demanding that the oil giant hand over documents relating to all grants awarded so far in 2007 by recipient.

Miller penned the letter after Greenpeace revealed today that ExxonMobil continues to fund global warming science attack dogs in the form of think tanks and industry-friendly associations. In the letter to Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, Miller states:

ExxonMobil continues to lead the world’s corporations in profits and in market capitalization. Unfortunately, ExxonMobil’s economic success has been tarnished by a history of sowing doubt about the science of climate change, science you privately know to be true.”Could this be the first step in a Congressional hearing similar to Rep. Henry Waxman’s famous Big Tobacco Hearings?

Sure looks that way.

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmogBlog.

He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning.

Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks.

Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder.

Prior to DeSmogBlog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health.

In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications.

Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.