Environ. Res. Lett. 12 (2017) 084019 henceforth ExxonMobil’s principal (and only consistent) academic author, co-authoring 72% (52/72) of all analyzed peer-reviewed work (79% since his hiring). Indeed, the metadata title of the ‘Exxon Mobil Contributed Publications’ file is ‘Haroon’s CV’ [15]. 4.2. Government As a 1980 ‘CO2 Greenhouse Communications Plan’ explained, ‘The research is . . . significant to Exxon since future public decisions aimed at controlling the buildup of atmospheric CO2 could impose limits on fossil fuel combustion’ [146]. The scientific research, a 1982 letter described, helped ‘to provide Exxon with the credentials required to speak with authority in this area’ [99]. ExxonMobil appealed to its research credentials in communications with government officials [84]. 4.3. Exxon management A 1981 ‘Review of Exxon climate research’ observes that ‘projects underway and planned on CO2 . . . are providing an opportunity for us to develop a detailed understanding of the total Federal atmospheric CO2 program which the Corporation needs for its own planning . . . ’ [111]. 4.4. Public and policymakers The company’s climate science research offered ‘great public relations value,’ observed a 1978 memo [145]. In 1980, with input from outside public relations counsel, Exxon developed a ‘CO2 Greenhouse Communications Plan,’ including advertorials, to target ‘opinion leaders who are not scientists’ [146, 147]. By 1988!9, this plan explicitly aimed to ‘extend the science’ and ‘emphasize the uncertainty in scientific conclusions regarding the potential enhanced Greenhouse effect’ [131, 147]. That year, 1989, they ran their first AGW advertorial. ExxonMobil’s interest in influencing the non-scientific public and policymakers helps explain our key observation: the discrepancy between internal and academic documents versus advertorials concerning AGW as real, human-caused, serious, and solvable. 5. Conclusion Available documents show a discrepancy between what ExxonMobil’s scientists and executives discussed about climate change privately and in academic circles and what it presented to the general public. The company’s peer-reviewed, non-peer-reviewed, and internal communications consistently tracked evolving climate science: broadly acknowledging that AGW is real, human-caused, serious, and solvable, while identifying reasonable uncertainties that most climate scientists readily acknowledged at that time. In contrast, ExxonMobil’s advertorials in the NYT 15 overwhelmingly emphasized only the uncertainties, promoting a narrative inconsistent with the views of most climate scientists, including ExxonMobil’s own. This is characteristic of what Freudenberg et al term the Scientific Certainty Argumentation Method (SCAM)—a tactic for undermining public understanding of scientific knowledge [57, 58]. Likewise, the company’s peer-reviewed, non-peer-reviewed, and internal documents acknowledge the risks of stranded assets, whereas their advertorials do not. In light of these findings, we judge that ExxonMobil’s AGW communications were misleading; we are not in a position to judge whether they violated any laws. Acknowledgments The authors thank librarian Frank Burchsted for his assistance, Ploy Pattanun Achakulwisut for helpful discussions and for participating in intercoder reliability testing, and three anonymous peer reviewers. This research was supported by Harvard University Faculty Development Funds and by the Rockefeller Family Fund. The authors have no other relevant financial ties and declare no conflicts of interest. References [1] Schneiderman 2016 AG Schneiderman, former Vice President Al Gore and a coalition of Attorneys General from across the country announce historic state-based effort to combat climate change Press Release (https:// perma.cc/4luq-b2uh) [2] McKenna P 2016 Exxon rejects shareholder requests to address climate change InsideClimate News (https://perma. cc/st38-lsd5) [3] Gillis J and Krauss C 2015 Exxon Mobil investigated for possible climate change lies by New York Attorney General The New York Times (https://perma.cc/ns9x-4tvb) [4] Srolovic L M, Olson K G W and DeRoche M 2016 Subpoena for production of documents, the people of the state of New York (4:16-cv-00469-K) (New York) (https:// perma.cc/DV33-GFTH) [5] Larson E 2017 Schneiderman says Exxon’s climate change proxy costs may be a ‘sham’ Bloomberg News (https:// perma.cc/yu4w-tk7b) [6] Schneiderman E T 2017 Memorandum of law in opposition to Exxon’s motion to quash and in support of the Office of the Attorney General’s cross-motion to compel (Index No. 451962/2016) (New York) (https://perma.cc/ BMC9-HF83) [7] Goldberg I A 2016 Civil Investigative Demand, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (2016-EPD-36) (Boston, MA) (https://perma.cc/ 28DT-GUR6) [8] Healey 2016 Remarks of Attorney General Maura Healey climate change press conference in New York (New York) (https://perma.cc/9W74-T5BU) [9] McKenna P 2016 Virgin Islands and Exxon agree to uneasy truce over climate probe InsideClimate News (https://perma.cc/mvx7-bnx2) [10] Crooks E 2016 SEC probes ExxonMobil over asset values Financial Times (https://perma.cc/uk3j-3khp) [11] ExxonMobil Corp Our climate science history (https:// perma.cc/x2js-jhs4) (Accessed: 28 July 2017)