Exxon’s Climate Position Evolved as Its Scientists Warned of Rising Risks

In an interview, Adler denied claims that he promotes climate change denial. “I can’t speak to what API or Exxon’s motivations were,” said Adler, now a professor at William & Mary School of Law. “What I can say is that the work we did at CEI at that time was very focused on what was accurate, precise and consistent with the founding principles of the organization.”

He said it was natural for his organization to seek funding from businesses and groups that support limited government regulation.

Adler’s Position in the Boulder Case

This year, Adler wrote an outline in which he sided with Boulder in the Supreme Court case, arguing that Boulder’s claims are not preempted by federal law and should be heard in state court. He did not take a position on the merits of Boulder’s claims.

Exxon’s Earlier Statements on Climate Science

By 2005, when Exxon was facing public criticism for supporting groups that questioned climate science, a company spokesperson told Mother Jones magazine that Exxon believed “the scientific evidence regarding greenhouse gas emissions remains inconclusive and research needs to continue.” The spokesperson also said Exxon was investing heavily in university research programs, including $100 million earmarked for Stanford University’s Global Climate and Energy Project.

The following year, according to documents in a Massachusetts lawsuit, a co-worker arranged a meeting with two public relations professionals who described themselves as global warming skeptics.

Exxon’s Public Climate Stance Changes

By the 2010s, Exxon’s public stance on climate change had evolved. The company no longer openly doubted the science, but as scientists’ conclusions strengthened and the United States joined the Paris Agreement in 2015, maintaining that position became increasingly difficult.

On Sprow’s advice, the company hired one of its research scientists to contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Exxon also began developing a “climate risk matrix” to address shareholder concerns that its business was unprepared for the risks posed by climate change, documents show. Exxon scientists contributed to the United Nations climate panel in 2016 and alerted colleagues to the risks.

They wrote that the probability of a climate tipping point was “not well understood, but the probability is expected to increase as temperatures change.” They also said that failing to limit emissions would increase the impact on temperatures after 2040. The scientists expressed concern that, if a tipping point were reached, the impacts “will be significantly larger” than the direct effects of heat.

Exxon’s Continued Investment in Oil and Gas

Nevertheless, as the Massachusetts case shows, Exxon continued to promote solutions that its own scientists said were unlikely to reach commercial scale. Most of the company’s investment will instead go to oil and gas, where Exxon plans to expand production by 15% or more by 2030.

Nicholas Kusnets is a reporter for Inside Climate News. Prior to joining ICN, he worked at the Center for Public Integrity and ProPublica. His work has received numerous awards and citations from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Overseas Press Club, and the Business Editors and Writers of America, among others. His articles have appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Wired, The Washington Post, Businessweek, The Nation, and The New York Times. Nicholas can be contacted by Signal at nkusnetz.15.

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News.