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Like I wrote, the big money special interests are at work in the USA
against global warming. The US is the homeland of the right wing kooks
like that nut PJ whose cross posts show up here.

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Report: Exxon undermined global warming science

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON ‹ ExxonMobil Corp. gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups from
1998-2005 in an effort to mislead the public by discrediting the science
behind global warming, the Union of Concerned Scientists asserted Wednesday.
The report by the advocacy group mirrors similar claims by Britain's leading
scientific academy. Last September, The Royal Society wrote the oil company
asking it to halt support for groups that "misrepresented the science of
climate change."

Many scientists say carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from
tailpipes and smokestacks are warming the atmosphere like a greenhouse,
melting Arctic sea ice and alpine glaciers and disturbing the lives of
animals and plants.

ExxonMobil called the scientists' report Wednesday "yet another attempt to
smear our name and confuse the discussion of the serious issue of CO2
emissions and global climate change."

ExxonMobil lists on its Web site nearly $133 million in 2005 contributions
globally, including $6.8 million for "public information and policy
research" distributed to more than 140 think tanks, universities,
foundations, associations and other groups.

Some of those have publicly disputed any link between greenhouse gas
emissions and global warming.

Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists' strategy and policy
director, said in a teleconference that ExxonMobil based its tactics on
those of tobacco companies, spreading uncertainty by misrepresenting
peer-reviewed scientific studies or emphasizing only selected facts.
Dr. James McCarthy, a professor at Harvard University, said the company has
sought to "create the illusion of a vigorous debate" about global warming.
The company said its financial support doesn't mean control over any group's
views.

"We find some of them persuasive and enlightening, and some not," ExxonMobil
spokesman Dave Gardner said.

"But there is value in the debate they prompt if it can lead to better
informed and more optimal public policy decisions."

He said the company believes that despite many scientific uncertainties, the
risk that greenhouse gas emissions may have serious environmental effects
justifies taking action to limit them.