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New files shed light on ExxonMobil’s efforts to undermine climate science

https://lemmy.world/post/5100593

New files shed light on ExxonMobil’s efforts to undermine climate science - Lemmy.world

Executives privately sought to downplay link between fossil fuels and climate change despite public pronouncements, WSJ reports ExxonMobil executives privately sought to undermine climate science even after the oil and gas giant publicly acknowledged the link between fossil fuel emissions and climate change, according to previously unreported documents revealed by the Wall Street Journal. The new revelations are based on previously unreported documents subpoenaed by New York’s attorney general as part of an investigation into the company announced in 2015. They add to a slew of documents that record a decades-long misinformation campaign waged by Exxon, which are cited in a growing number of state and municipal lawsuits against big oil. Many of the newly released documents date back to the 2006-16 tenure of former chief executive Rex Tillerson, who oversaw a major shift in the company’s climate messaging. In 2006, Exxon publicly accepted that the climate crisis posed risks, and it went on to support the Paris agreement. Yet behind closed doors, the company behaved differently, the documents show.

Sep 15, 2023 at 1:16pmWeb
Show threadAutoTL;DRSep 15, 2023

This is the best summary I could come up with:

They add to a slew of documents that record a decades-long misinformation campaign waged by Exxon, which are cited in a growing number of state and municipal lawsuits against big oil.

Many of the newly released documents date back to the 2006-16 tenure of former chief executive Rex Tillerson, who oversaw a major shift in the company’s climate messaging.

Tillerson also wanted to engage with the scientists “to influence [the group], in addition to gathering info”, the Exxon researcher told colleagues in a 2012 email about the findings.

After a climate science presentation to Exxon’s board of directors in April 2015, Tillerson called the 2C goal “something magical”, according to a summary of the meeting.

That December, Exxon publicly endorsed the Paris agreement; during his Senate confirmation hearing to become secretary of state in 2017 under President Trump, Tillerson maintained his support for it.

The documents could bolster legal efforts to hold oil companies accountable for their alleged attempts to sow doubt about climate science.

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Show threadTheSaneWriterSep 15, 2023
Good bot!
Show threadnot_that_guy05Sep 15, 2023
Hang them and distribute their funds to climate change. Family should not receive a single penny either.
Show threadBlapooSep 15, 2023
I agree with portions of this
Show threadAurenkinSep 15, 2023
Which portions? Don’t leave us hanging
Show threadGoblin_ModeSep 15, 2023
I can’t speak for that guy but I personally agree these guys should be portioned as well
Show threadSpendrillSep 15, 2023
I don’t believe in hanging people, we should expropriate all but a basic living pensions and exile them to equatorial countries.
Show threadnot_that_guy05Sep 15, 2023
Fine fine, get the fuckin guillotine boys. Let’s get some heads rolling.
Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023
Big fan of Sean Lock’s Nazi Island reality show concept aren’t you?
Show threadSpendrillSep 15, 2023

Everybody else is saying kill them and I think, somehow, that’s letting them off easy. Let them all go and be the self-made, self sufficient men and ladies they have always wanted to be. They can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and show us once and for all we’re just crap people by not only surviving but thriving under the conditions that they, more than anyone else, have made.

Seems like my proposal has balance and justice about it.

Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023

The risk of them making others think like them is pretty great.

The risk of them doing things to prolong their bloodline at the expense of others is also pretty good.

Better to remove the risk.

Show threadfiat_luxSep 16, 2023

So they can go and exploit the previous victims of colonialism and current victims of capitalism directly in person? What did the people in equatorial countries do to deserve that?

They already have enough problems without the world illegally dumping yet more hazardous waste on them.

Show threadSpendrillSep 16, 2023
My feeling is that those people will have been forced to move into more temperate areas because of the harshness of climate change and so there’s be a natural space for the ‘wealth creators’ to exploit.
Show threadfiat_luxSep 16, 2023
I'm not sure if you've noticed how warmly people from equatorial countries are currently being received as refugees, but, let's just say that's a remarkably optimistic outlook.
Show threadSpendrillSep 16, 2023
It’s a pessimistic outlook really, I am saying that the equatorial zones will be rendered largely uninhabitable. Like all refugees, those people would rather be able to stay in their homes but that’s not going to be possible. The other thing is that once everybody from those regions have to move, out of necessity, they’ll have the numbers to insist on relocation.
Show threadfiat_luxSep 16, 2023

I understand what you were getting at, but I still think 'having the numbers to insist' is not something that will happen. 7000 people arrived on one of Italy's islands in the last 2 days seeking refuge. Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya was established in 1992 but today holds 200k people. On the other side of Kenya is Dadaab camp which holds 240k people right now. On average, people spend 10-15 years in those camps.

Sadly, the world will leave them to rot, as it always has. This will only be more true as people in richer countries begin to feel greater cost of living pressures - xenophobia is a typical response when people are angry that they have nothing.

Either way, I'm opposed to dumping billionaires as punishment. Exile is not really feasible like it used to be. I say seize assets and garnish future income, like they're someone trying to avoid paying child support.

Show threadSpendrillSep 16, 2023

Yeah, if there were proper consequences to them not paying up and not a toothless regulatory entity then I could go along with that, it’s not got as much schadenfreude but it’ll do.

7000 is a lot but we’re talking about multiple countries being displaced here. If you’re old enough to remember, there was that whole Palestinians in Jordan thing where they were actually planning a coup and very possibly had a chance of pulling it off and then the King of Jordan (who turned out to be a CIA asset because of course it was the CIA) expelled them all from the country in Black September and then they ended up in the Lebanon.

Show threadzcdSep 15, 2023
These are crimes against humanity
Show threadWhatAmLemmySep 15, 2023

It’s planetary ecocide — ALL recent, present, and future generations of all known life will suffer the consequences of these sociopaths/psychopaths. Every person. Every ecosystem. Every plant. Every animal.

If we didn’t live in capitalist oligarchies masquerading as “democracies” Exxon would be seized, everyone who participated or knew about the lies would get life in prison without parole; stripped of all of their personal assets and wealth — with all proceeds invested in renewables and decarbonisation.

But we do, so these corporate criminals have nothing to worry about and will continue to prosper from the greatest crime in history until the day they die.

Show threadCarighan MaconarSep 15, 2023
Word. For all their bluster, politicians are just too afraid - because their personal wealth depends on this shit - to ever actually rock the boat and do to these companies and importantly their leaders just a fraction of what they do to everyone, even outside of the country in question.
Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023

1.5c

66% chance by 2027

www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65602293

Global warming set to break key 1.5C limit for first time

The world is likely to hit 1.5C of warming within the next five years because of rising carbon emissions.

BBC News
Show threadmarcosSep 15, 2023
Didn’t we reach this already? Or it’s supposed to be a multi-year average, not impacted by geological heating?
Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023

I thought that was a headline a week ago or so, but i did not find it quickly.

This article came up from a few months ago, before the summer heat domes that might have skewed things upward.

Show threadwewbullSep 16, 2023

Taking one year in isolation I’m sure. The overall trend is up, and the frequency of energetic weather is up, but we’ve not hit 1.5c increase over a period longer than a year yet.

Hot years happen, and one year isn’t a trend.

Show threadSCBSep 15, 2023

We averaged 1.5C for a single year, which we’ve also done in 2016. The global average temperature YOY has not risen to 1.5C yet.

It is likely to before 2030.

Show threadWhatAmLemmySep 16, 2023

Exactly! That’s why I wrote “less than a decade away”.

If you haven’t noticed, most articles use the entire range stretching out to the late 2030 outliers under the most optimistic and forgiving scenarios, which is disingenuous as the vast majority of modelling indicate we’re extremely likely to hit 1.5c YOY this decade.

Show threadTheSaneWriterSep 15, 2023
The penalties for these crimes should be higher than fines. They should involve prison time at the very least, destroying our planet is not something people should get off scot-free for.
Show threadAurenkinSep 15, 2023
If you are willing to throw all of human civilization under the bus for profit, you should have no place in it
Show threadTankausSep 15, 2023
Perfectly succinct.
Show threadTipRingSep 15, 2023
It's not an exaggeration to say that millions, if not billions of people will die because of the actions of ExxonMobil. Those responsible should be prosecuted and imprisoned.
Show threadCaptainAnikiSep 16, 2023
Too easy. Their bloodlines need to be scrubbed from the earth.
Show threaduphillbothwaysSep 15, 2023
These people are the reason tar and feather needs to make a comeback. Take their wealth and make them walk naked in shame.
Show threadCarighan MaconarSep 15, 2023
Even better, take some of their money and staple it to them as a replacement for taring and feathering.
Show threadBurn_The_RightSep 15, 2023
They should pay to fix this. They should all pay to fix this.
Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023
Its not that simple. There is no fix.
Show threadCaptainAnikiSep 16, 2023
Yes there is.
Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 16, 2023
Really? There is a path back to +0°C temperature increase?
Show threadCaptainAnikiSep 16, 2023
They should pay by having their ability to breath the air they ruined revoked. Permanently.
Show threadTh4tGuyIISep 15, 2023

Imagine knowingly throwing humanity under the bus to make a quick buck because you know you'll be dead by the time the consequences come.

I don't often find myself agreeing with cruel and unusual punishment, but if anyone deserves to suffer Hell on Earth, it's these people. They deserve to feel the pain they've caused through their money-making malice.

Show threadpostmateDumbassSep 15, 2023
This is why jail time for executives, large shareholders, and decision maling employees needs to be more of a thing.
Show threadCaptainAnikiSep 16, 2023
Jail is too easy. Extrajudicial enforcement.
Show threadEvil_incarnateSep 15, 2023

Talking about climate change to my mother had her replying “I’ll be dead before any of that affects me”.

I never fail to remind her of that when a storm/drought/energy price hike/other climate related trouble does affect her.

Show threadstewie3128Sep 16, 2023
Sounds like such a nice lady.
Show threadTh4tGuyIISep 16, 2023

It may be true that they'll be dead before the worst of it comes, but as you say, it's already here. Bigger and more frequent storms; more drastic, frequent, and longer heatwaves and droughts; bigger floods; colder and colder winters. They're all symptoms of climate change, and they aren't going away.

It's as though the generations after WWII forgot that they're supposed to leave a world for the next generation to live in, not sell them out for a buck.

Show threadTouching_GrassSep 15, 2023
I routinely see people driving dangerously every time I leave the house. What if its not just these executives but our culture as a whole. Like they’re the symptom of a much bigger disease
Show threadbeveradbSep 15, 2023
The rot economy
Show threadSCBSep 15, 2023

“But having worked with some of these colleagues earlier in my career, I have the benefit of knowing they are people of good intent,” he said. “None of these old emails and notes matter, though. All that does is that we’re building an entire business dedicated to reducing emissions – both our own and others’ – and spending billions of dollars on solutions that have a real, sustainable impact.”

This person makes a good point, but they fail to realize that it can also be true that these (often former) executives should still be prosecutes for, at minimum, misleading shareholders.

Show threadTouching_GrassSep 15, 2023

This website is a solid repository of leaker memos, documents and transcriptions from fossil fuel industries attempts to spread doubt and plot to discredit any action that would impact them. There are some bangers in here

www.climatefiles.com

Climate Files

Hard to Find Documents All in One Place

Climate Files
Show thread👁️👄👁️Sep 15, 2023
Why is this seen as anything less then a death sentence? Killing the earth is literally worse then killing a human.
Show threadCaptainAnikiSep 16, 2023
We really need to start extra judicial enforcement of international law against ecocide.