Companies Lying About Global Warming

In a blog entry entitled "A list of companies who supported lies about global warming," Colin Beavan discusses a New York Times article published Apr. 23 that provides evidence to support the claim that Global Climate Coalition, an organization representing a significant number of Fortune 500 oil, automobile, and energy companies, knowingly misinformed policy makers and the public about the detrimental effects of global warming.

According to Revkin: "a document filed in a federal lawsuit demonstrates that even as the coalition worked to sway opinion, its own scientific and technical experts were advising that the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted."

Notable companies exposed include American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Chrysler, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Ford, General Motors, Goodyear, Shell, Texaco, and US Chamber of Commerce. The influence and power these companies wield cannot be understated. Their interests are represented by the most high-powered lobbying firms who throw millions of dollars worth of campaign contributions at policymakers. If this isn't enough to influence political "opinion," it's now clear that these companies fabricated science to "legitimize" their position. To be honest, I'm not surprised at all. I wouldn't expect anything less from our country's largest corporations. Instead of leading or atleast following the push to cut CO2 emissions, our country’s “leading” businesses were actively trying to sabotage the most important task of our generation (and the next few generations). Unfortunately, the efforts of these companies may have stunted progress for as much as twenty years.