Late last week we pointed you to the Guardian's report on a letter that the Royal Society wrote to ExxonMobil demanding that the oil company stop funding organizations that undermine the theory of global warming. I quite wasn't sure just how Exxon would parry the blow, but now that we have the response I'm not entirely surprised. It essentially lacks any sort of substance.

They said that both the letter and the Society's public statements "inaccurately and unfairly" describe the company as a sceptic to climate change. They go on to say, "We know that carbon emissions are one of the factors that contribute to climate change - we don't debate or dispute this."

ExxonMobil says they are taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, yet defend an apprehensive course of action by saying, "We support approaches to reduce emissions more broadly in ways that are cost effective for society and that consider the uncertainties that remain."

Apparently, the Guardian isn't flawless in their reporting. The article says that ExxonMobil allegedly distributed $2.9 billion to organizations that misrepresented the science of global warming. The Royal Society's letter instead states $2.9 million.

Related:

• Dear ExxonMobil: Royal Society says stop funding climate change denial

[Source: Guardian]

Earlier this month the Royal Society, Britain's premier scientific academy, sent a letter (PDF) to Esso, ExxonMobil's U.K. branch, to demand that the oil giant withdraw support for organizations that undermine scientific evidence supporting the theory of global warming. The Royal Society conducted a survey which found that last year, ExxonMobil distributed $2.9 million to 39 of these think tanks and lobby groups. Groups on the list include the International Policy Network, which is headquartered in London, and the George C. Marshall Institute, based in Washington DC. The letter states that these organizations have "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".

The letter also takes aim at ExxonMobil's official claims that the "gaps in the scientific basis" make it very difficult to blame climate change on human activity. The Royal Society says that these claims are not consistent with scientific literature and misrepresent the science of climate change.

Bob Ward, the senior manager of policy communication at the Royal Society and the letter's official author, said, "It is now more crucial than ever that we have a debate which is properly informed by the science. For people to be still producing information that misleads people about climate change is unhelpful. The next IPCC report should give people the final push that they need to take action and we can't have people trying to undermine it."

The IPCC is the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their next report, due in February of next year, is expected to say that the Earth's temperature could increase higher than previously thought.

The actual letter can be found here (PDF).

[Source: Guardian via Energy Bulletin]