activities have already impacted climate are currently unjustified.” But that
improved models could make an assessment of human impacts on the
climate possible. The memo states repeatedly that the computational speed
and power of supercomputers is one of the key barriers to better modeling.
The unreleased ‘draft’ shows key content that was not included in the
final draft, including rebuttals of key “contrarian” arguments one by one,
declaring that while they raise interesting questions, they “do not offer
convincing arguments against the conventional model of greenhouse gas
emission induced climate change.”
Simultaneously, and subsequently the oil industry funded the same
discredited “contrarian” now known as “denier” scientists to apply counterpressure on the policy dialogue.
c. Bush State Department briefings on meetings with Global Climate
Coalition, ExxonMobil8
A series of internal State Department briefings revealed a through
Freedom of Information Act request by Greenpeace. The briefing
memorandum before the June 21, 2001 meeting with the GCC states that
President Bush, the “POTUS rejected Kyoto, in part, based on input from
you.” And also that “GCC members are completely supportive of the
Administration’s position on climate change and the rejection of the Kyoto
Protocol.”
d. Exxon documents doubting science9
Shown are a few of many documents publicly distributed by Exxon in
the mid 1990s that cast doubt on climate science, and claim economic harm
will be caused by policy solutions
e. 1996 Exxon presentation on health effects of climate change10
This September 1996 presentation titled “Purported Impact of Climate
Change on Human Health” was presented or distributed to the Global
Climate Coalition by D.J. Devlin, a scientist from Exxon Biomedical
Services, Inc.
One slide says that “International attention focused on relationships
among greenhouse gases, climate change, ecological stress and human
health” have been raised by reports by the National Academy of Sciences,
the IPCC, in medical journals and among “popular press”.
Devlin lays out the emerging consensus around the health impacts
from climate change as “The Hypothesis” and lists three slides of impacts
driven by increasing climate change due to fossil fuel use. These include
direct and indirect impacts including “death due to weather related
disasters”.
8Ken
Brill, United States Department of State, “Your Meeting with members of the Global Climate
Coalition,” Jun. 20, 2001 (available at http://www.climatefiles.com/denial-groups/global-climatecoalition-collection/2001-state-department-meeting-global-climate-coalition/).
9Lee Raymond and Jonathan Adler, Exxon Corporation, “Global Warming: who’s right? Facts about a
debate that’s turned up more questions than answers,” Fall 1996 (available at
http://www.climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/global-warming-who-is-right-1996/).
10D.J. Devlin, Exxon Biomedical Sciences, Inc., “Purported Impact of Climate Change on Human
Health,” Sep. 19, 1996 (available at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4476751Purported-Impact-of-Climate-Change-on-Human-Health.html).
Climate Investigations Center - September 2018
page 5