Exxon-Mobile isn't just helping to contaminate the atmosphere. It's trying to contaminate the public awareness of global warming as well.
A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that Exxon donated $15+ Million in 2006 to groups that, "don't speak for the company," but that are set up to spread their propaganda anyway. It's a little scheme called "idea laundering" or something that the PR industry calls "astroturfing". They put the money and propaganda into groups that will do their bidding. Then they say, "The groups do not speak for the company." The groups confirm it, of course.
This is a bit like Bill Clinton saying that he did not have sexual relations with, "that woman." It depends on how you define "sexual relations" or, in Exxon's case, "...speaking for." True, they didn't give the groups the money to be Exxon's spokespeople. Exxon just needed them to say that global warming could be part of the normal cycle of the earth. The difference is merely semantic.
2007-01-04
06:47:45
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Other - Business & Finance