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by breakyerself 1664 days ago
Actually Exxon Mobil did have a privately funded climate science program during most of the 1970s and early 1980s. Those scientists published papers which agreed with what they described as the "Emerging consensus" that human emissions of greenhouse gasses are driving global warming. They even made projections that by 2020 with 420ppm of co2 we should expect around 1C of warming above preindustrial temps. Which is exactly what happened.

Eventually Exxon shut down the division and spent the next 35 years paying public relations agencies to spread misinformation and doubt about the science. Including the false narrative that scientists are being paid to manufacture global warming.

There have always been mercenary scientists like Willie Soon who solicite industry to produce shoddy science that protects their interests. The same thing happened with the lead, asbestos, and tobacco industries. The majority of scientists are not in it for the money. They became scientists to advance human knowledge. That's the entire point of being a scientist. Your conception of the field is cynical and not rooted in reality.

1 comments

Oh you found the representative 3%!

Funny how their funding stopped hmmm?

You've clearly made your mind up on cultural grounds and you're just here to be a culture warrior
You are a mind reader? Cool. How have I made up my mind?
I'm not a mind reader. It's just a safe bet.
A safe bet that what? That you embarrass yourself by assigning beliefs to people you know nothing about? Sure.