Message From the Editor

DeSmog continues to reveal more deceptions by the fossil fuel industry from a trove of documents released during last month’s congressional probe of the industry. And in a major development this week, leaders of the probe called on the Department of Justice to investigate Big Oil’s decades-long climate disinformation campaigns and take any necessary legal action, much as the government did with the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.

We’ll keep our eyes on developments for you as more and more internal records are released.

DeSmog’s Cartie Werthman delved into the congressional-probe documents to show greenwashing at work. While ExxonMobil touted carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in numerous ad campaigns, internal documents show that behind the scenes, the company actually saw a “limited” role for the technology to combat climate change.

“In 2018, while ExxonMobil was employing advertising firms to loudly tout their CCS efforts as evidence that ExxonMobil is participating in the energy transition in good faith and that CCS was an extremely valuable tool to mitigate climate change, they internally believed CCS to be a mediocre-at-best contributor to carbon sequestration,” Lindsey Gulden, a data scientist formerly employed by ExxonMobil who reviewed the internal documents, told DeSmog.

Exxon’s role in greenwashing carbon capture comes as no surprise. This week, the only climate scientist on the company’s board is stepping down with nothing to show for broader hopes that she would make the company rethink its climate approach. Our story reignites debate about the role of a scientist on the board of a major oil company with a legacy of spreading science denial and ignoring internal expertise.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter. 

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Mike Mozart (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

DOJ Must Investigate Big Oil’s ‘Ongoing Enterprise,’ Lawmakers Say

— By Emily Sanders, ExxonKnews (4 min. read) —

The leaders of a years-long congressional probe into Big Oil’s decades-long climate disinformation campaigns just formally referred their investigation to the Department of Justice, calling on the nation’s biggest public law office to “pursue further investigation and take any appropriate legal action, as it has in similar cases involving the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.”

In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland today, Senate Budget Chair Sheldon Whitehouse and House Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin wrote that they believe that “there is adequate evidence that fossil fuel industry companies and trade associations may have violated one or more federal statutes and that, accordingly, further investigation is warranted.”

Despite Advertising Carbon Capture, ExxonMobil Saw Marginal Role for It in Fighting Climate Change 

— By Cartie Werthman (4 min) —

ExxonMobil saw a “limited” role for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in fighting climate change, but still promoted the technology in its advertising campaigns, internal company documents show. 

The documents, published by Congressional investigators, included a presentation dated April 2, 2018, that laid out an ExxonMobil scenario for what the global energy mix could look like in 2050 if countries enacted aggressive climate policies after 2024.

Climate Scientist Leaves ExxonMobil’s Board With Little to Show for It

— By Emily Sanders, ExxonKnews (8 min. read) —

When Susan Avery was first nominated to ExxonMobil’s board in 2017 after pressure from shareholder advocates to bring on a climate scientist, many hoped that her expertise could help steer the oil major in a new direction. Avery — a physicist and atmospheric scientist — had spoken during her extensive career of the need to “get off fossil fuels as much as possible.” 

More than seven years later, Avery is set to exit her role as chair of Exxon’s Environment, Safety, and Public Policy Committee with those hopes seemingly dashed. Evidence continues to mount that the oil giant is still spreading climate disinformation to delay action on fossil fuels, and it recently sued shareholders who proposed that it pursue emissions cuts.

ExxonMobil Urges EU to Remove ‘Policy Hurdles’ Slowing Oil Industry’s Hydrogen Plans

— By Michael Buchsbaum (5 min. read) —

ExxonMobil Corp. and other fossil fuel companies are urging the European Union to relax targets to boost climate-friendly “green” hydrogen, hoping to win greater support for projects to manufacture the fuel using natural gas.  

The United States-based oil major’s willingness to publicly throw down the gauntlet to policy-makers underscores the stakes for the fossil fuel industry as the EU fleshes out its plans to slash carbon emissions, ahead of June’s European parliament elections.

Tories Have Received £8.4 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests, Polluters, and Climate Deniers Since 2019 Election

— By Sam Bright (9 min. read) —

The Conservative Party has received £8.4 million since December 2019 from oil and gas interests, highly polluting industries, and individuals who have expressed or supported climate science denial, DeSmog can reveal. 

This comes as climate action is increasingly being used as a “wedge” issue to divide voters ahead of the next election, which is due to be held on 4 July. 

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Pacific Research Institute (PRI)

Pacific Research Institute (PRI) is a conservative, free-market think tank founded in 1979 that champions “freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility for all individuals by advancing free-market policy solutions.” The institute receives major funding from Koch Industries and additional financing from ExxonMobil, as well as millions from “dark money” groups DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund. PRI is pro-fracking and in 2022, released a report stating it opposed fracking bans in California, claiming the activity “would be one of the safest and cleanest operations globally.” In 2019, the institute signed an open letter organized by the American Energy Alliance to fight against an electric vehicle tax credit.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.