The DeSmog UK epic history series continues with a look at what happened when environmentalists attended an ExxonMobil meeting in Dallas, Texas.
ExxonMobil and other industry hardliners came together in 1998 to create an โAction Planโ to combat Americaโs growing fondness for fighting climate change.
This plan would provide a blueprint for undermining the climate movement over the next four years.
But, the environmentalists were well-organised. Having bought shares in ExxonMobil, they attended the corporationโs first annual meeting, held in Dallas in May 2000, and used it as a platform to attack Exxon boss Lee Raymond and the corporationโs policies.
When one activist shouted for a โlong-term solution to global warmingโ, applause set through the room. Raymond, emblazoned, let rip.
โNo Convincing Evidenceโ
Reading from a petition apparently signed by 17,000 scientists, he railed: โThere is no convincing scientific evidence that any release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will in the foreseeable future cause catastrophic heating of the earthโs atmosphere and disruption of the earthโs climate.โ
Continuing in his own words, โIโm not saying youโre wrong. What I am saying is there is a substantial difference of view in the scientific community as to what exactly is going on.โ
Raymond was not going to be put off by the activists. 2000 was a big year for the corporation as the US election cycle started, pitting industry insider George W Bush against environmentalist Al Gore.
Election Funding
It was a chance for the corporation to be free of the threat of the Democratsโ regulatory ambitions, and so the funding of denial organisations continued to increase.
As Greenpeaceโs ExxonSecrets project has documented, between 1998 and 2010, ExxonMobil spent nearly $25 million funding climate denier groups.
The move to disinformation would prove a defining issue of ExxonMobilโs strategy and influence throughout the first Bush term.
The next DeSmog UK epic history series post will take a closer look at ExxonMobilโs contribution to George W Bushโs election as President of the United States.
Photo: Pixabay via creative commons
