Britta Voss, Richard Somerville and Nathan Phillips report that more than 100 Earth scientists, themselves included, have signed a letter urging their preeminent professional society, the American Geophysical Union to cut financial ties with ExxonMobil. They are joining the growing chorus of scientists who refuse to turn a blind eye to the destructive behaviors of the industry partners of their profession, ExxonMobil being the most egregious. They hope that this action will inspire their community to embark on an open assessment of the role of fossil fuel companies in the Earth sciences.
For decades now, climate scientists have been quietly reporting astonishing findings about the causes and consequences of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the life-sustaining systems of the Earth. Some have even taken their findings directly to the public and to legislators at venues ranging from town hall meetings to Senate committee hearings to international political summits. And what has this tremendous effort achieved? In terms of meaningful large-scale policies resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions, not nearly enough.
While scientists and science media have been hard at work generating factual information and attempting to share it with the public, those who hold a financial stake in perpetuating society reliance on fossil fuel energy have been diligently countering their efforts. Fossil-fuel companies, among the most profitable enterprises on Earth, have employed every technique available to mislead the public and politicians about the veracity of climate science and, as pure denial grows ever less compelling, to argue that the potential costs and benefits of policy action warrant indefinite delay.
Today, most fossil fuel companies pay lip service to the reality of climate change, and many even officially support policies such as a carbon tax. Yet a great deal of damage, both to the climate and to our political systems, has already been done.
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