97
by a front group called the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE),”459
which counts some of the Carbon Majors among its members.
These campaigns were not confined to the United States, but were also conducted at
the international plane, particularly through the efforts of the Global Climate Coalition
(GCC), an organization of business trade associations, such as the API, including many of
the Carbon Majors. It claimed to be “the leading voice for industry on the global climate
change issue, and represents its members both internationally and domestically before
government agencies, Congress, the media and the general public.”460 Internally, the
GCC members acknowledged that “the scientific basis for the Greenhouse Effect and
the potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 on climate
is well-established and cannot be denied.”461 This fact is reflected in a 1995 final draft Climate
change Primer created by Lenny Bernstein of Mobil Corporation and circulated to all its
members.462Yet, in 1996, it actively campaigned to undermine the IPCC Second Assessment
Report (IPCC AR2), specifically the IPCC’s conclusion about the human contribution
to global warming. The GCC wrongly accused IPCC scientists of revising the IPCC AR2
without authorization. The GCC’s strategy of attacking scientists was well documented and
continued until the third IPCC assessment report.463
The Carbon Majors, through individual efforts, also sowed doubt and misinformation about
climate change. One of the most documented efforts of obfuscation is that perpetrated by
ExxonMobil. A 2017 peer-reviewed study of 187 climate change communications, including
peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications, internal company documents, and paid
editorial-style advertisements in The New York Times, produced by ExxonMobil between
1977 to 2014, concluded that ExxonMobil misled the general public. It found that 83
percent of ExxonMobil’s peer-reviewed papers and 80 percent of its internal documents
acknowledged that climate change is real and human-caused. Yet, only 12 percent of its
459
Exhibit QQ, The Climate Deception Dossiers (Internal Fossil Fuel Industry Memos Reveal Decades
of Corporate Disinformation) by Union of Concerned Scientists, at 16-17.
460
Global Climate Coalition: An Overview, at 1 from Exhibit AAAAAAA to AAAAAAA-1, Climate Files
Post Index prepared by Climate Investigations Center with links to copies of the actual documents,
available
at
http://www.climatefiles.com/denial-groups/global-climate-coalition-collection/1996global-climate-coalition-overview/ (last accessed Mar. 5, 2020).
461
462
463
Approval Draft, Predicting Future Climate Change: A Primer, at 1 from Exhibit AAAAAAA to
AAAAAAA-1, Climate Files Post Index prepared by Climate Investigations Center with links to copies
of the actual documents, available at http://www.climatefiles.com/denial-groups/global-climatecoalition-collection/global-climate-coalition-draft-primer/ (last accessed on Mar. 5, 2020).
Id.
Exhibit K, Smoke and Fumes: The Legal and Evidentiary Basis for Holding Big Oil Accountable for the
Climate Crisis (Center for International Environmental Law) dated November 2017, at 16-7.
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