Read our FOIA Documents

The meetings all took place after President Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001. The documents detail various business groups and corporations, consulted by the State Department about global warming policy and the ongoing Kyoto Protocol negotiations, including: two meetings with ExxonMobil, one with the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) and one with corporate lobbyist Don Pearlman of the Climate Council. The State Department did not release to Greenpeace any notes on what took place at these meetings and has not confirmed that each and every one of these meetings took place.

Undersecretary Dobriansky's office can be reached at 202-647-6240.

Journalists and Editors - before you quote a Kyoto opponent, see www.ExxonSecrets.org for detailed research on the global warming naysayers and backlash groups.

Meeting documents:

Global Climate Coalition Meeting - June 21, 2001
Description: The Global Climate Coalition was the leading industry group working in opposition the Kyoto Protocol. The State Department briefing states that the "POTUS (President of the United States) rejected Kyoto, in part, based on input from you," and that one objective for Undersecretary Dobriansky should be to "solicite GCC ideas in alternative to Kyoto as part of continuing dialogue with friends and allies."

Links for more info on Global Climate Coalition:
• Factsheet
• View an ExxonSecrets' map.
  (Click on "Launch" and then "Skip Intro")
• The retired GCC website.
• The reborn GCC website.

Don Pearlman, Climate Council Meeting - July 9, 2001
Description:Don Pearlman is a major international lobbyist who has worked for many years in opposition to the Kyoto Protocol. The Climate Council's corporate backers are well hidden but early funders included coal industry, railroads and ulitities. Pearlman has been tracked for years working in collaboration with the Saudi Arabian and Kuwait delegations to the Kyoto Protocol to undermine the treaty.

ExxonMobil, State Department Meeting - July 25, 2001
Description: Randy Randol, Senior Environmental Policy Advisor for ExxonMobil requested this meeting at the suggestion of a former Exxon board member then being appointed as the Ambassador to Sweden by the Bush administration. The State Department breifing states that the Ambassador "feels that we should hear form Exxon-Mobil scientists who have perspectives on the climate change debate that are not consistent with the science that has supported our climate policy until now," and that "Mr. Randol may suggest that these [scientific] uncertanties argue against precipitous action." The memo ends, "We thank Exxon/Mobil for its views and active involvment in the issue."

ExxonMobil, State Department Meeting - September 20, 2001
Description: Nine days after September 11, the State Department had a meeting scheduled with ExxonMobil to discuss the "U.S. stance" at the the next international climate negotiation meeting sceduled in December 2001. The State Department briefing states, "ExxonMobil is among the companies most actively and prominently opposed to binding approaches to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Through previous efforts with the Global Climate Coalition and its own ongoing public outreach, ExxonMobil stresses scientific uncertainty regarding human impacts on climate, and warns that Kyoto... would be unjustifiably drastic and premature."

Other corporate meetings documented:

Energy and Communications Solutions - July 10, 2001
Business Roundtable - Sept 12, 2001

For more information on these documents, please contact the Greenpeace Research Department at 202-462-1177.