{"id":17,"date":"2007-02-22T16:55:26","date_gmt":"2007-02-22T21:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/"},"modified":"2008-04-22T14:09:04","modified_gmt":"2008-04-22T19:09:04","slug":"exxon_reversal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/","title":{"rendered":"Exxon Changes its Tune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What a difference nine years makes!<\/p>\n<p>For more than a decade, Exxon has been a major player in a campaign to spread doubt about global warming. We know this for a fact because a 1998 internal Exxon memo titled &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.environmentaldefense.org\/documents\/3860_GlobalClimateSciencePlanMemo.pdf\">Global Climate Science Communications: Action Plan<\/a>&#8221; was leaked to the press. The stated goal of the plan, whose authors include Randy Randol of Exxon Corp, Sharon Kneiss of Chevron Corp, and Joseph Walker of the American Petroleum Institute, was to change the American public&#8217;s view that global warming was a threat so that policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions could be stopped. The memo laid out a wide range of strategies and tactics to achieve this goal, budgeting nearly $6 million plus the cost of advertising.<\/p>\n<p>But suddenly Exxon has changed its tune.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->On February 15, 2007, Exxon released the third in a series of op-ed pieces on &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www2.exxonmobil.com\/Corporate\/Files\/Corporate\/OpEd_addressing_the_risks.pdf\">Addressing the risks of climate change<\/a> &#8220;, which they now say \u201cis an important issue facing our world today.&#8221; <em>Exxon now accepts global warming as an undisputed fact!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Exxon goes on to recommend some reasonable general strategies:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Promote energy efficiency<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Ensure wider deployment of existing emissions-reducing technologies<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Support research and development of new technologies that can dramatically lower emissions while ensuring energy availability<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Maintain support for climate research, to inform policy and the pace of response<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Although their policy recommendations don&#8217;t go far enough, at least they&#8217;re in the right direction:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Promote global participation<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Ensure a uniform\/predictable cost of reducing carbon emissions<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Maximize the use of markets, to aid rapid adoption of successful initiatives<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Maximize transparency<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Minimize complexity and administrative costs<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Provide flexibility to adjust to ongoing understanding of the economic impact and evolving climate science<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Has Exxon joined the fight for legislation to curb global warming, or is this just another PR campaign to divert attention from its true agenda? Time will tell. In this year&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.environmentaldefense.org\/page.cfm?tagID=580\">Globie Awards<\/a>, we nominated Exxon for &#8220;Worst Performance by a Corporation or Corporate Official&#8221;. Hopefully next year will be different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What a difference nine years makes! For more than a decade, Exxon has been a major player in a campaign to spread doubt about global warming. We know this for a fact because a 1998 internal Exxon memo titled &#8220;Global Climate Science Communications: Action Plan&#8221; was leaked to the press. The stated goal of the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocates-for-change"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What a difference nine years makes! For more than a decade, Exxon has been a major player in a campaign to spread doubt about global warming. We know this for a fact because a 1998 internal Exxon memo titled &#8220;Global Climate Science Communications: Action Plan&#8221; was leaked to the press. The stated goal of the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Chameides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Chameides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bill Chameides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b\"},\"headline\":\"Exxon Changes its Tune\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\"},\"wordCount\":338,\"commentCount\":2,\"articleSection\":[\"Partners for Change\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\",\"name\":\"Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exxon Changes its Tune\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/\",\"name\":\"Climate 411\",\"description\":\"Blogging the science and policy of global warming\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b\",\"name\":\"Bill Chameides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/4d18299e79bcedd6bb3a81941c16d9e1\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bac98415e9c06f185f4cb60754d82d498c204e2918f8d43912c0a034ae57ba50?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bac98415e9c06f185f4cb60754d82d498c204e2918f8d43912c0a034ae57ba50?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bill Chameides\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/environmentaldefense.org\/page.cfm?tagID=874\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/author\/bchameides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411","og_description":"What a difference nine years makes! For more than a decade, Exxon has been a major player in a campaign to spread doubt about global warming. We know this for a fact because a 1998 internal Exxon memo titled &#8220;Global Climate Science Communications: Action Plan&#8221; was leaked to the press. The stated goal of the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/","og_site_name":"Climate 411","article_published_time":"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00","author":"Bill Chameides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Chameides","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/"},"author":{"name":"Bill Chameides","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b"},"headline":"Exxon Changes its Tune","datePublished":"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00","dateModified":"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/"},"wordCount":338,"commentCount":2,"articleSection":["Partners for Change"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/","name":"Exxon Changes its Tune - Climate 411","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-02-22T21:55:26+00:00","dateModified":"2008-04-22T19:09:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/02\/22\/exxon_reversal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exxon Changes its Tune"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/","name":"Climate 411","description":"Blogging the science and policy of global warming","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/9f5fbd8173161c5a6f7b0319be658b0b","name":"Bill Chameides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/4d18299e79bcedd6bb3a81941c16d9e1","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bac98415e9c06f185f4cb60754d82d498c204e2918f8d43912c0a034ae57ba50?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bac98415e9c06f185f4cb60754d82d498c204e2918f8d43912c0a034ae57ba50?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bill Chameides"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/environmentaldefense.org\/page.cfm?tagID=874"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/author\/bchameides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}