Climate Files is organized by categories of documents and by keywords assigned to documents. Our Advanced Search page includes a drop-down feature showing all of the categories of documents so that you can more easily narrow your search. The topic field of our Advanced Search page also has a drop-down menu. You can try typing in a word to see if it corresponds with one of the tags assigned to a document. If you try a topic keyword and it doesn’t appear, try to see if a similar term that describes your document does appear.
This pamphlet is a collection of information aimed to highlight uncertainty around climate models and whether fossil fuels contribute to climate change. The article offers alternative theories and research, many of which are supported by Exxon rather than independent scientists. “A Better Path Forward” includes a forward by then Exxon CEO Lee Raymond and underestimate […]
This 1999 “State of the Climate Report” is a collection of essays on climate change written by noted climate-denying scientists, many of whom have established financial relationships with the fossil fuel industry. The initial essays of the report present arguments that the unusually warm temperatures of recent years are not associated with climate change and […]
This 1999 document is a letter from the George C. Marshall Institute, addressed to President Bill Clinton. The George C. Marshall Institute is a non-profit, “dedicated to providing rigorous, unbiased technical analyses of scientific issues which impact public policy.” The Institute has received over $800,000 from ExxonMobil since 1988, and notably received $50,000 in 1999 (the […]
This pamphlet, circulated to both U.S. and international policy-makers questions whether climate change is man-made and if so, the extent of contribution of fossil fuels to the problem. Although statements in this pamphlet are partially true in that Exxon “carefully studied” the science behind climate change, it contradicts its own internal findings with early climate […]
This 1998 document from Imperial Oil Ltd, the Canadian subsidiary of Exxon, is an article in the “Imperial Oil Review” written by Robert Peterson, who served as chairman of Imperial Oil until 2002. This document is part of the ClimateFiles Imperial Oil document set, gleaned by DeSmog researchers from the Glenbow Imperial Oil Archive Collection. […]
April 1998, American Petroleum Institute’s secret plan was leaked – the Global Climate Science Communications Plan. The plan was created just months after the Kyoto Protocol was signed in December 1997. It was developed by representatives from Exxon (specifically Randy Randol), Chevron, Southern Company and representatives from conservative and libertarian organizations. The plan includes a multimillion dollar, […]
This video and transcript reflects Mobil Corporation CEO and Chairman Lucio “Lou” Noto’s remarks at a February 1998 Employee Forum. Released by ThinkProgress in April 2018, this speech shows Mobil’s awareness of climate change and its relationship to its products. Defending Mobil’s “two-sided attitude toward climate,” Noto maligns the Kyoto Protocol and “mandatory” regulatory measures to […]
This 1998 document contains Exxon’s financial contributions for the year. The report details Exxon’s contributions to a variety of sectors, including the environment, public information and policy research, and education. The report shows that Exxon contributed to a variety of organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Environmental Literacy Council. The document reveals that Exxon […]
Mobil Chairman, President, and CEO, Lucio Noto, releases the company’s brochure on global climate change. Language in the brochure is similar to a November 1997 document prepared by Mobil’s General Manager of Government Relations, Anthony Corso. The brochure emphasizes that manmade carbon dioxide emissions account for 3% of total carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, and […]
October 13, 1997, Exxon Corporation’s Lee Raymond, chairman and CEO, spoke at the World Petroleum Congress in Beijing, China. Lee Raymond was speaking two months in advance of the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3), in Kyoto, Japan. Lee Raymond said that there are parties asking for binding agreements to cut the use of […]