The multi-million dollar pipeline from Exxon-Mobil to the climate denial noise machine has continued unabated, 3 years after the company promised not to fund climate deniers any longer.
Big Business, lying?
Is anyone surprised?
The story broke today in the Times of London -- hardly a liberal newspaper by any stretch of the imagination. Since the article is subscription, your best online source is the ever-valuable DeSmog Blog, which has been tracking the denial PR noise machine for years.
The Times indicates that the amount given to denier groups is between %1.5 million (DeSmog) or $1.75 million (according to the New Republic). In 2007, Exxon promised that it would cease all funding of climate denier groups in 2008. And specifically, Exxon had denied funding the annual International Conference on Climate Change ("no funding links" to the conference, according to the Times). But, as it turns out (from Exxon's own documents), Exxon provided $275,000 to four groups who sponsored the event.
The four groups funded by Exxon — the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Media Research Center, the Pacific Research Institute and the Heritage Foundation — co-sponsored the annual Heartland Institute denial-a-palooza conference last year.
And those four were just the tip of the iceberg: the Times identified 20 other denial groups funded by Exxon, too.
So what did Exxon do when confronted by it's own lies? It recycled the same-old, same-old story. Nope, not gonna do that again, they claim. When pressed by the Times, however, Exxon would only go so far as to name three (out of 24!) climate denial groups whose funding will be cut.
One that gets off scot-free is the Heritage Institute. Why? Because climate denial isn't their only schtick.
So is this Exxon’s newest trick to spin its vast misinformation campaign? Now it will only provide funding for groups who work on a variety of issues, not those whose sole focus is endangering humanity further by delaying action to address climate change?
What excuse will ExxonMobil think of next year?
Excuse? We don't need no stinkin' excuse. We're Exxon!