Our DeSmog UK epic history series continues with the merger between two oil giants, Exxon andย Mobil.
A global superpower was created on 30th November 1998, with the $81bn merger between Exxon and Mobil.
The deal was quick on the heels of rival BPโs merger with Amoco, but the ExxonMobil deal outshone that of BP Amoco by billions ofย dollars.
In its first year, ExxonMobil earned $228bn โ more than Swedenโs GDP at the time. In the coming years, the denial machine would have the economic force of an OECD nation state behindย it.
An Out-And-Outย Sceptic
Exxon boss Lee โIron Assโ Raymond announced the deal, speaking for 28 minutes before Mobilโs partner got a word in. The hunting man’s views on climate science were well known: he was an out-and-outย sceptic.
Exxonโs favoured think tanks were those whose strategies emphasised โthe promotion of free-market principles,โ as lobbyist and future Whitehouse mole Phil Cooney putย it.
With Raymond at the helm, Antony Fisherโs libertarian think tanks thrived as the super-corporation spent millions funding their network of โindependentโ scientists and researchers, whose explicit aims were to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on globalย warming.ย
Annualย Donations
Donations to Fisherโs Atlas Foundation, for instance, rose from around $280,000 to nearly $800,000 between 1998 and 2003; his Fraser institute received $120,000 from ExxonMobil in just two years to work specifically on climateย change.ย
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) saw its annual donations more than double from $460,000 to over $1.1m. Its tagline was โFree Markets and Smallย Governmentโ.
By 2003, Exxonโs donations to the CEI represented more than 15 percent of its total income. After bankrolling George W Bush into office, Exxonโs agents would doctor documents, hire and fire public servants at national and international levels, and dislocate international efforts to combat climateย change.
After an environmental offensive on both sides of the pond from Tony Blair, Lord Browne and Al Gore, this was the empire strikingย back.
Next up on the DeSmog UK epic history series, ExxonMobil uses its PR power to change the publicโs mind on climateย change.
Photo: Mike Mozart viaย flickr
