This Is The Man Exxon Chose To Lead Its Effort Against Climate Science

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This DeSmog UK epic history post portrays Lee Raymond, the Texan captain who steered the Exxon ship against the rising tide of climateย science.

In 1997, BPโ€™s British boss, John Brown, stunned the world by endorsing the science of climate change and calling for government regulation to reduce carbon emissions. Exxonโ€™s Lee Raymond (pictured), however, was an entirely different beast: brash, bullish andย brutal.

This real life J.R. Ewing came from working class stock all the way from the Great Plains and fought his way to the top of the oil giantย Exxon.

Raymond lived in a 8,642-square-foot, five-bedroom brick-faรงade home in Dallas, had around-the-clock access to the Exxon fleet of nine corporate planes for personal and work trips, and enjoyed the protection of an armed bodyguard and chauffeur who was a former New York policeย officer.

โ€˜Oil and Gasย Puristโ€™

According to Steve Coll, the author of the award-winning Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, Raymond ruled the company with a โ€œdrill sergeant-inspired ethosโ€ and he โ€œconsidered himself unabashedly to be a โ€˜free-market capitalistโ€™ and resisted government intervention and regulationย instinctively.โ€

Raymond was also an โ€œoil and gas puristโ€ and, in taking over the company, ended the brief flirtation with environmentalism that had taken place under the former chairman Clifton Garvin, who had installed solar panels to heat his home’s swimmingย pool.

โ€œIt seemed the worst thing an Exxon manager could be in Raymondโ€™s eyes was dishonest, but the second-worst thing was to be stupid,โ€ according to one senior colleague. โ€œโ€˜Stupid shitsโ€™ was one of the direct phrases by which he conveyed hisย judgements.โ€

Raymond simply believed that โ€œthe scientists on the other side are wrongโ€. This formed the core of his speech before the Fifteenth World Petroleum Congress hosted in Beijing by the People’s Republic of China in October 1997. This took place just six months after BPโ€™s Browne declared his conversion to the climateย cause.

Fossil Fuelย Development

The captain steering the Exxon ship, however, refused to see danger ahead and defiantly told the international delegates that climate change was not, in fact, takingย place.

He used the speech to express his sincere concerns about the poorest in society and concerns that developing countries would be denied the opportunity to experience wealth and growth if they were not allowed to use fossil fuelsย unabatedly.

โ€œEnergy use and economic growth are inextricably linked,โ€ he told the people of China. โ€œThe countries with the highest economic growth and the highest standards of living are also those with the highest energy use per capita. Today, most of that energy, both in Asia and the world as a whole comes from fossil fuels โ€“ about 85ย percent.

โ€œI know there are some people who argue that we should drastically curtail our use of fossil fuels for environmental reasons โ€ฆ my belief is that such proposals are neither prudent or practical โ€ฆ their use is essential both for economic growth and for the elimination of poverty, which is itself a worseย polluter.โ€

Climateย Science

Much of the speech was dedicated to attacking the climate science as often holding up straw men such as apparent claims of certainty about the impacts of and threat from globalย warming.

Raymond relied on many of the attacks first set out by the climate deniers du jour, including Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels and Richard Lindzen, along with other coal and oil-funded scientists. โ€œMany people, politicians and public alike, believe that global warming is a rock-solid certainty, but itโ€™s not,โ€ heย said.

He argued that changes in the climate were merely natural variability, that human-produced carbon makes only a small contribution to the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, and that climate models are โ€œnotoriouslyย inaccurateโ€.

โ€œThe case for so called global warming is far from airtight,โ€ he argued. โ€œYou might think that all this uncertainty would give political leaders pause. Unfortunately, itย hasn’t.โ€

Free Marketย Approach

The American business leader called on China to follow โ€œthe free market approachโ€. He said climate mitigation would inevitably involve taxation and regulation, and โ€œall of us would suffer from these proposals โ€ฆ I hope the governments of this region will work with us to resist policies that could strangle economicย growthโ€.

The speech drew to a close with a quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu: โ€œGovern a great nation as you would cook a small fish โ€“ do not overdoย it.โ€

The Beijing speech was perfectly timed to undermine the Clinton administration and its negotiating position at Kyoto. It also provided the hymn sheet for Exxon-funded sceptics to sing from during the next 20ย years.

Next up, the DeSmog UK epic history series recalls the moment when leaders from around the globe agreed to limit emissions under the Kyotoย Protocol.

@brendanmontague

Photo via Google Creativeย Commons

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