ExxonMobil has decided to stop funding nine climate change denial groups, acknowledging that their lobbying activities "could divert attention from the important discussion on how the world will secure the energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner."
Divert attention? That's certainly true, since it's precisely the reason the groups engage in those activities in the first place. It's that diversion of attention by the climate change denial industry that allowed the Bush administration to sit on their hands for years, whining that the evidence wasn't all in and it was too early to take action. It's that diversion of attention that permits legitimate press outlets to present the cherry-picked data points and out-and-out fabrications of industry-funded "think tanks" and present them as if they represented the same weight of evidence as thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers demonstrating anthropogenic climate change.
Still, good for Exxon for finally coming to the grown-up's table, even if they're a little late to the party. Mind you, according to Greenpeace, they're still funding a couple of dozen denial organizations, although the nine they've kicked away from the trough ($2.1 million donated last year) were apparently the most egregious.
Why now? For one thing, there's been recent pressure not just from the general public but from major Exxon shareholders, including some Rockefellers, to address the issue of climate change more seriously. And no doubt the growing body of scientific evidence making the global warming case was starting to make it harder and harder to maintain a "wait-and-see" position while keeping a straight face.
Still, the ExxonMobil website remains mystically ambiguous about global warming, saying only that "Climate remains today an extraordinarily complex area of scientific study. The risks to society and ecosystems from increases in CO2 emissions could prove to be significant ..." You've still got a ways to go, Exxon.
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