The Imperial Oil Files: New Collection Adds to Climate and Energy Research Archives On Science and Denial

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
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Today, DeSmog and the Climate Investigations Center are co-launching a large collection of documents from Exxon’s Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil, that DeSmog collected from a company archive in Calgary over the past severalย years.

These documents add new context to the groundbreaking investigative reporting by Inside Climate News, and the Columbia School of Journalism in partnership with the Los Angeles Times, that revealed the #ExxonKnew conspiracy. Those journalistic efforts exposed the facts that Exxonโ€™s own climate science research had confirmed the role of fossil fuels in driving global warming, and that the company pivoted away from that advanced knowledge, choosing instead to spend tens of millions of dollars funding climate science denialย campaigns.

While most of the media attention has focused on ExxonMobil, this new archive provides further proof that Imperial Oil was also well-versed in climate science and the consequences of fossil fuel pollution in altering globalย climate.

As Kevin Grandia and I reported on DeSmog in 2016, Imperial Oil knew by the late 1970s that burning fossil fuels was the primary cause of climate change. And the company was unequivocal about it, stating bluntly in the report we discovered in theย archive:

โ€œIt is assumed that the major contributors ofย CO2ย are the burning of fossil fuelsโ€ฆย There is no doubt that increases in fossil fuel usageย and decreases of forest cover areย aggravating the potential problem of increasedย CO2ย in the atmosphere. Technology exists to removeย CO2ย from stack gases but removal of only 50% of theย CO2ย would double the cost of power generation.โ€ [emphasisย added]
[click here to download the fullย PDFย version ofย โ€œReview of Environmental Protection Activities for 1978-1979โ€]

Our reporting at the time demonstrated that the knowledge of the carbon dioxide pollution threat was indeed global across Exxonโ€™s worldwide operations, earlier than previously known, and considered a major challenge for the companyโ€™s future operations. We also cited an earlier document, from 1970, confirming that Imperial Oil recognized CO2 as an โ€œair pollutantโ€ โ€” a designation which the oil industry has long sought toย evade.ย ย 

DeSmog researchers visited this corporate archive, which was housed at the Glenbow Museum, many times over several years. The full paper collection was recently moved to the University of Calgary. The searchable set of documents weโ€™re releasing today is the most comprehensive collection of the documents availableย online.

Most of the newly released documents are from the 1980s and 1990s, although a few reach back as early as the 1960s. They show how the company’s actions in Canada diverged quite significantlyย from what Exxon was doing and saying in the U.S., especially around the environment and global warming โ€” at least at first. Then came the global corporate campaign to spread doubt, denial, andย delay.


Related: View the Global Climate Coalition files, a previous collaborative effort between DeSmog, Climate Investigations Center, and Climate Liability News exposing the industry-funded effort to confuse the public and derail climateย solutions.


There are many issues and themes covered in this new collection that will be of interest, including Imperialโ€™s relations with First Nations, its early analysis of potential carbon tax schemes and pollution abatement policies, the oil industryโ€™s forays into Arctic drilling and transporting crude oil under harsh conditions, and muchย more.

We encourage all journalists, legal and academic researchers, and decisionmakers to peruse this collection of documents, as there are many unreported and lesser-known stories within. We will add any news stories that come out below, so please reach out if you write anything or see something related to this collection.ย ย 

MEDIA COVERAGE ABOUTย IMPERIAL OIL FILES

View the entire DeSmog series at Imperial Oil Files: How a Canadian Oil Giant Followed Exxon into Climateย Denial

Main image:ย ยฉย Samย Whitham/DeSmogย 

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
Brendan is Executive Director of DeSmog. He is also a freelance writer and researcher specializing in media, politics, climate change and energy. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Grist, The Washington Times and other outlets.

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