Why does ExxonMobil continue to spend millions on climate denial?

Company continues to finance misinformation campaigns.

ExxonMobil spent more than $2 million on climate science denial in 2015, records reveal.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - ExxonMobil says it believes in climate change. Its executives probably believe it too, after all, they're smart people. But their profits depend on public resistance to efforts to reduce fossil fuel use.

The science is clear. Human emissions of CO2 are spiking. They have gone up many times faster than at any time in history. This is fueling a spike in global average temperature. The temperatures are rising so fast, environments cannot cope with the change in climate. This is driving millions of animal species to extinction. Scientists have concluded the planet is undergoing a mass extinction event. Over 90 percent of all known species could disappear in the coming centuries.

Along with sea level rise, this mass extinction will have unpredictable impacts on humanity. While we cannot predict the precise outcome of these changes, we know they will not be positive.

There is a consensus among scientists this is being caused by human activity. Carbon dioxide released by human activity has a different isotope than CO2 released by natural activity. Our fingerprints are all over the filth in the atmosphere.

With such overwhelming evidence and so many scientists sounding the alarm, the fossil fuel industry is in crisis. Their economic well being depends on the extraction of carbon-rich fuel sources. Oil and coal are by far the most common minerals extracted for fuel.

The public has called for political resistance to these projects. They have asked for alternatives such as wind and solar to help end our addiction to fossil fuels. This cuts into corporate profits.

But the corporations have allies. Contrarian scientists, and clever bloggers can twist language, and interpret graphs to suggest the planet isn't warming. It's hogwash, but it sells well enough.

Such efforts have been blasted by scientists. The effort to sow doubt over well-established science in the name of profit has been widely condemned.

According to ExxonMobil's own release of financial data, in 2015 they gave $2 million to organizations that promote global warming denial.

The company has been trying to shape public opinion since the 1990s. Its denial promotion operations were finally exposed in 2007.

From 1998 to 2006, the company has spent $18.62 million to promote climate denial. After 2007, the company stepped up its efforts, spending $14.25 million to date for a total of $33 million. This is how much the company has filtered through a network of over 40 climate denial groups.

There is also speculation they have spent far more money than this.

It is unconscionable that any organization would dedicate itself to the denial of scientific reality for profit. This is what the tobacco industry did to people for decades. By promoting lies and misinformation, they continue to get rich, even today; that's both Big Tobacco and Big Oil we're talking about.

Unfortunately, no robust organization exists to bring these companies to justice. There's no way to keep them honest. So the climate denial will continue, and a misinformed public will keep supporting enterprises that are against their own self-interest. Misinformation is a lucrative investment.

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