As a week of protest against giant oil corporation Exxon gets
underway, Greenpeace in the USA today will launch a report
detailing the company's history of deliberate efforts to sabotage
international action on climate change.
Exxon is the world's biggest oil corporation and is marketed as
Mobil, Exxon-Mobil and Esso in different parts of the world. At the
beginning of May, Greenpeace called for an international week of
action against Exxon to protest against its continued interference
in both international and US climate policy. Activists from around
the globe have indicated their intention to send Exxon a message
this week that the company is not going to get away with its
outrageous behaviour.
"This week, Exxon can expect a variety of protests from at least
three continents, including its homebase, North America," said
Greenpeace climate campaigner Stephanie Tunmore.
"We are expecting a coalition of different social, environmental
and human rights groups, as well as concerned individuals to join
Greenpeace in this week of protest. While we aren't going to spoil
the surprise for Exxon by saying what form these protests might
take, the company won't miss the message - stop interfering in
climate politics."
"Exxon's stance on global warming can be summed up in three
words: deny, deceive and delay," said Tunmore. "Its propaganda
machine has been hard at work for more than a decade spewing out
junk science, fabricating doubts, and buying support of politicians
from the local level all the way to the White House."
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group
made up of thousands of the world's leading scientists and
scientific bodies, has found that global warming is man-made, it
will have severe environmental and health impacts if left
unchecked, and it is getting worse. Over the next century, a
warming of just a few degrees will lead to sea level rise, chaotic
weather patterns, agricultural loss and the spread of diseases.
By rejecting the Kyoto Protocol a year ago and proffering an
alternative plan on global warming that echoes the views of Exxon,
the White House is recycling a version of the failed voluntary plan
offered by the first President Bush more than a decade ago. The
Greenpeace report to be launched in the USA today details the close
connections between President Bush and Exxon that date back to the
President's days in Texas.
"ExxonMobil's finger prints are all over the Bush
Administration's stance on global warming," said Tunmore. "Bush
global warming policy smells a lot like Exxon."