Misinformation from ExxonMobil

A report from the "Union of Concerned Scientists" points out the techniques used by ExxonMobil in its campaigns of communication. The report mentions that these techniques are similar to the ones used by the boacco industry in the past and have common points with classical misinformation techniques.

It is said that ExxonMobil provided up to 16 million dollars between 1998 and 2005 to 43 different think-tanks in order to double-cross the public concerning the scientific conclusions about the global warming. According to Alden Mayer, from the "Union of Concerned Scientists": "In the same way that tobacco industries have denied the effects of their products on lung cancers, ExxonMobil is at the origin of doubts concerning the human sources of the global warming"

The reports shows that the company:

• - Brought into question some of the most conclusive scientific evidences
  
• - Funded a panel of organizations in order to simulate a consensus
• - Hid behind scientific appearances to promote a commercial message
• - Relied on its relations within the Bush administration to block some federal policies and influence the official communication concerning the global warning

For example, ExxonMobil might have funded organizations such as the Georges C. Marshall Institute to which it gave more than 630 000 dollars to ease the release of a book from Patrick Michaels, a well-known detractor of the scientific theories concerning the global warming as well as a close friend of the republican administration.