The Untold Story of How Oil Companies Shaped Climate Science
April 10, 2025 · Frisian News
Internal documents from major oil corporations reveal they funded research that muddied climate findings for decades, even as their own scientists confirmed warming risks. The industry's strategy worked: it delayed serious policy action until the 2000s.
In 1978, scientists at Exxon's research lab in New Jersey ran a computer model that showed carbon dioxide from burning oil would warm the planet by two degrees within a century. The finding alarmed the company's leadership. Rather than act on it, Exxon buried the work and funded a network of think tanks and researchers to question the science for the next forty years. Documents uncovered by investigative reporters show the company knew the risk was real, yet spent millions to make the public doubt it.
Shell, Chevron, and BP followed the same playbook. They hired scientists, yes, but they also hired public relations firms to amplify uncertainty. These firms did not deny warming outright, which would have looked foolish by the 1990s. Instead, they sowed doubt about the speed of change, the human role in it, and the cost of fixing it. Trade groups like the American Petroleum Institute ran advertising campaigns that posed the warming question as unsettled science, even after major national academies had reached consensus.
The strategy worked precisely because it did not need to convince most people. It only had to delay action long enough for the industry to extract and sell more oil. Governments hesitated to impose carbon taxes or emissions limits. International climate treaties stalled. Meanwhile, atmospheric CO2 climbed from 335 parts per million in 1980 to 420 by 2023. The industry's own timelines proved more profitable than the planet's.
Why does this matter now? Because many of the same companies still wield influence over energy policy in democracies across Europe and North America. They sit on government advisory boards, fund academic research, and lobby against regulations that would phase out fossil fuels. Transparency about past deception does not automatically stop present-day manipulation, but it should sharpen public skepticism toward what these firms claim they want to do about climate.
The oil industry proved long ago that money talks louder than science in democratic institutions. Today, citizens and lawmakers who want genuine climate action should remember that lesson. Trust the data, not the promises of companies that spent four decades trying to hide it.
Yn 1978 liepen wittenskippers yn it ûndersoekslabor fan Exxon yn New Jersey in komputermodel út dat sjen liet dat koaldiokside út brinnend oalje de planeet yn ien ieu mei twa graden opwarmje soe. De bevinding alarmeare de lieding fan it bedriuw. Yn stee derfan begroeven se it wurk en finansieren in netwurk fan tinketanks en ûndersiekkers om de wittenskip fjirtich jier lang yn twifel te lûken. Dokuminten dy't ûndersyeksjoernalisten oan it ljocht brachten, sje dat it bedriuw it risiko koe, mar miljoenen útjaf om it publyk dêroan te lûken twifelje.
Shell, Chevron en BP folgen deselde foargong. Se hüürden wittenskippers yn, ja, mar se hüürden ek pr-firma's yn om twifel te fergrutsjen. Dizze firma's ûntkenden opwarmje net direkt, wat tsjin de jierren njogentich balatig wêze soe. Yn stee derfan saaien se twifel oer de snelheid fan feroaring, de minsklike rol deryn en de kosten om it op te lossen. Branchegroupes lykas it American Petroleum Institute ferûndutstjoeren advertinsyekampage dy't de opwarmingsfraach as úndessen wittenskip presintearren, ek neidat grutte nasjonale akademyën oant konsensus kommen wiene.
De strategie wurke krekt om't dy net de measte minsken oertuigje hoechte. It hoechte allinnich aksje lang genôch te fertrágje sodat de yndustry mear oalje wûnne en ferkeapje koe. Rigirings sidzelen om koalstofbelestingen of útstjotlimitten yn te stellen. Internasjonale klimaatakkoardten stranden. Undertiis climb de CO2 yn 'e atmosfear fan 335 ppm yn 1980 nei 420 yn 2023. De eigen tydline fan de yndustry bliek winstfûnender as dy fan de planeet.
Werfoar is dit no wichtich? Om't in protte deselde bedriuwen noch altyd ynfloed hawwe op enerzjypolityk yn demokrasyën yn Europa en Noard-Amerka. Se sitte yn rigiringsadvisoryboards, finansiere wittenskiplik ûndersyk en lobbje tsjin regelgifting dy't fossile fûnststoffen útsjakellje soe. Transparânsje oer ferlapen bedrog stopet net automatis manipulaasje yn it heden, mar it soe it publyk skeptisisme tsjin wat dizze bedriuwen sizze wolle te dwaan oer klimaat skerpje.
De oalieindustry beprueve lang lyn dat jild hârder sprekt as wittenskip yn demokratyske ynstellings. Hjoed moatte boargers en beleidsmekers dy't echte klimaatpolityk wolle dat les ûnthâlde. Fertrouwe de gegevens, net de beloften fan bedriuwen dy't fjirtich jier lang probearren it te ferbergen.
Published April 10, 2025 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân