Posted by
Average Voter on Monday, February 08, 2010 6:46:26 PM
It is funny when an organizations whole purpose for exsistance is being undermined on a regular basis in the news, and yet they go on...ignoring it. They keep printing stories as if nothing has changed.
Like this one for instance. It's a story about how Exxon oil company is making money in a global market economy selling something everybody wants and needs. How they are undermining the global warming industry,
and how evil all that is.
Exxon is behind one of the most infamous
environmental catastrophes of our time, it makes more gross income than most
nation's entire GDPs, it does business with nations with
unstable governments that are often hostile to the US, and, worst of all, it has done everything in its power to push the misinformation campaign designed to discredit both climate science and the efforts to keep the earth's temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. And according to recent reports, its still up to its old tricks.
Let's just look at a couple of things here.
Okay, the Exxon Valdez was a terrible event, nobody questions that. But that was a long time ago and they spend billions of dollars in cleanup and litigation because of a captain who was drunk. That doesn't excuse them, but it is far from the worst spill that has ever happened. Secondly, the amount of money they make is based on the price of a barrel of oil set by the markets. Supply and demand is setting the price. Yet, because of those large profits, anyone who owns stock in them is making money as well. It is the american way, of course, to own stock in Exxon and reap some of the benefit. As far as doing business with unstable governments, well, what choice have we given them? We won't let them drill here, either on or offshore.
So, what has any of that got to do with the price of tea in China?
Oh yeah, they have to demonize the oil industry along with telling the story about how they give money to evil conservative think tanks. And remember, these think tanks are working with them to disprove global warming.
A report in
the Independent outlines how the oil giant is
still funneling money through various conservative think tanks and organizations in order to propagate the myth that the science behind human-caused climate change is "unsettled."
And right there is the kicker: climate change is "unsettled". In there mind the arguement over global warming is over. But have these folks been reading the news recently? The leaked emails from the CRU, or the massing of evidence against the IPCC's fourth assessment regarding the non-peer reviewed science and the phony data within it? Do they read any of this, or do they just dismiss it out of hand? I think the answer is obvious.
Clearly it is the same-old-same-old over at Treehugger.