In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore mentionedalmost incidentally that the the fossil fuel interests had set out to create a program of disinformation about global warming patternedon the tobacco industry’s propaganda about the hazards of smoking. Big Tobacco’s campaign of lies went on for decades, with the result that public opinion and the law were paralyzed from taking action to protect the public from cigarette smoke.
The same tactics and some of the same personalities are now in theemployee of ExxonMobile, which has been conducting its campaign of disinformation since the 1990s. The Union of Concerned Scientists have unmasked the scheme with their “ExxonMobile Report: Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air.” It is a devastating 64-page critique of corporate cynicism and irresponsibility and should be required reading for every member of Congress. See it here
And the next time you hear somebody spouting the ExxonMobile line onglobal warming, tell them you know where they got it and it’s bullshit!The irony, of course, is that they will not know the source of their own bullshit. They will be mouthing the Limbaugh-Hannity-Beck-Ingraham line and assume that it is sacred writ. Don’t let them get away with it.
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