By Susan Goldenberg, US correspondent A newly unearthed missive from Lenny
Bernstein, a climate expert with the oil firm for 30 years, shows concerns over
high presence of carbon dioxide in enormous gas field in south-east Asia
factored into decision not to tap it. ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil
company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became
a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm’s own
scientists. Despite this the firm spent millions over the next 27 years to
promote climate denial. The email from Exxon’s in-house climate expert provides
evidence the company was aware of the connection between fossil fuels and
climate change, and the potential for carbon-cutting regulations that could hurt
its bottom line, over a generation ago – factoring that knowledge into its
decision about an enormous gas field in south-east Asia. The field, off the
coast of Indonesia, would have been the single largest source of global warming
pollution at the time. Via
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/08/exxon-climate-change-1981-climate-denier-funding