Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ExxonKnew
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We haven’t found the smoking gun yet, but it sure as hell looks like ExxonMobil was involved in a massive hacking operation to silence their critics (including me).
The Wall Street Journal tells the wild story in this bombshell of a piece. wsj.com/articles/massi…
The Wall Street Journal tells the wild story in this bombshell of a piece. wsj.com/articles/massi…
Prosecutors haven’t yet found a clear line connecting Exxon to the hacking operation, but it’s really the only plausible explanation for why a hacker-for-hire would come after us and leak an email that was at the center of Exxon’s legal strategy on #ExxonKnew.
If it *does* emerge that Exxon or one of their front groups was behind the attack, they’re going to be facing felony level charges and it will be a MAJOR scandal.
Exactly. So why are false solutions such a big problem? And why don't we need them?
A thread in the context of today's newly published #IPCC report 🧵
A thread in the context of today's newly published #IPCC report 🧵
In the face of an undeniably changing climate, the fossil fuel industry and other high-emissions industries, as well as the banks, financiers and other actors who prop them up, have had to invent new tactics. For decades, the tactic was simple: lie
The lies run deep + long. New research this year showed that #ExxonKnew. Their scientists predicted global warming with shocking accuracy yet repeatedly exaggerated climate science uncertainties. Read an important thread from report author @GeoffreySupran
#Dow plastered #Singapore with ads for a sneaker #recycling program, promising to turn shoes into playground tracks. But the shoes it collected in "recycling" bins got dumped illegally in #Indonesia. This isn't strange: it's how nearly *all* plastic recycling *always* worked. 1/ 
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/02/26/car… 2/
pluralistic.net/2023/02/26/car… 2/
Plastic recycling's origin story starts in 1973, when #Exxon's scientists concluded that plastic recycling would never, ever be cost-effective (#ExxonKnew about this, too). 3/
The fossil fuel industry is not going to design its own demise. Instead, they seem to have no problem enabling the production of the biggest driver of our climate crisis.
Why @antonioguterres speech to #UNGA this morning is so important. A thread 🧵
Why @antonioguterres speech to #UNGA this morning is so important. A thread 🧵
Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon & Shell all reported record profits for 2022, a year in which Russia's war on Ukraine collided with the post-pandemic economic recovery to drive oil prices to their highest levels in history.
cbsnews.com/news/exxon-che…
cbsnews.com/news/exxon-che…
Together, the four companies saw $1 TRILLION in sales last year. TotalEnergies and BP are still due to report their 2022 financial results next week. These obscene profits of the fossil fuel industry are jarring when set two broader contexts...
1/n Der Vorfall mit der CDU Politikerin Saskia Ludwig und der bisher krassesten Diffamierung gegenüber eines Wissenschaftlers hat mich nicht mehr losgelassen. Deswegen dieser Thread.
2/n Es ist nichts neues, dass Wissenschaftler persönlich angegriffen werden, das kam ab den 1990er Jahren besonders aus der Ecke der Öllobby und Industrie - Michael Mann kann davon ein Liedchen singen. @MichaelEMann - natürlich ist das verwerflich und niederträchtig.
3/n Damals wurde immer klarer, dass man die Fakten nicht mehr einfach leugnen konnte, also wurden die Menschen verunglimpft, diejenigen die sich exponierten und verstanden hatten, wie krass die #Klimakatastrophe ist. Also die Wissenschaftler.
Kolumne: #RWEs Anwälte haben noch 2006 (!) den menschengemachten Klimawandel angezweifelt. Fossilkozernen ist einfach nicht zu trauen.
Passt dazu: @rahmstorf, @GeoffreySupran und @NaomiOreskes über #ExxonKnew in @ScienceMagazine spiegel.de/wissenschaft/m…
Passt dazu: @rahmstorf, @GeoffreySupran und @NaomiOreskes über #ExxonKnew in @ScienceMagazine spiegel.de/wissenschaft/m…
Die organiserten Klimawandelleugner und -abwiegler mit dem Google-Alert im Forum mussten heute besonders früh aufstehen. Es ist wirklich seltsam, wie motiviert die jedes Wochenende wieder sind. Nur ein paar Leute,aber mit mehrstündigen Schichten jeden Sonntag.
Throw Rex Tillerson under a prison.
The fact of the matter is Russia's IRA ran a campaign against @MittRomney after Maria Butina contacted Aleksandr Torshin for input.
Then Russia's pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was installed by the #TrumpCrimeFamily.
Then Russia's pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was installed by the #TrumpCrimeFamily.
NEW: In @ScienceMagazine today, our latest peer-reviewed research shows Exxon scientists predicted global warming with shocking skill & accuracy between 1977 & 2003, contradicting the company's decades of climate denial. THREAD.
📰No pay wall for 2 weeks: bit.ly/ExxonKnew2poin…
📰No pay wall for 2 weeks: bit.ly/ExxonKnew2poin…
2/n: This is the first ever systematic assessment of an oil and gas company's climate projections. It's published by me, climate scientist @rahmstorf (@PIK_Climate), and historian of science @NaomiOreskes.
3/n: We began by collecting every available global warming prediction reported by Exxon scientists in internal memos & peer-reviewed papers. This yielded 16 temperature projections from 1977-2003 in 12 graphs, shown here with subsequent *observed* temp changes overlaid in red.
Immer wieder ein Gänsehautmoment, wenn @AOC die Grafik von 1982 zeigt. "...1982, 7 years before I was even born, Exxon accurately predicted [...]"
Das Originalmemo gibt's hier:
climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/198…
climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/198…
Noch besser ist der explizite Aktionsplan des 'American Petroleum Institute' von 1998. Dort wird unverblümt beschrieben, dass "der Sieg erreicht wird" wenn:
- Unsicherheit bzgl. der Klimawissenschaft verbreitet wird (sowohl in den Medien als auch bei den Bürgern)
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- Unsicherheit bzgl. der Klimawissenschaft verbreitet wird (sowohl in den Medien als auch bei den Bürgern)
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💥BREAKING: Dozens of climate justice activists disrupted the #OilandMoney conference, a summit of fossil fuel companies, this morning at the @ICParkLane in London this morning.
#DebtforClimate @EIForum
1/5
#DebtforClimate @EIForum
1/5
The grossly named Oil & Money conf changed its name to Energy Intelligence Forum but obviously no energy intelligence is taking place, as the International Energy Agency warned that no new #fossilfuel projects can be built if we are to limit #globalheating to 1.5C.
2/5
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.@CClimateAction @fossilfreeLDN @xryouthcambs & other #ExtinctionRebellion groups blocked the road outside the hotel with a banner reading “Your greed is killing humanity” and a choir infiltrated the building singing protest songs.
@XRebellionUK
3/5
@XRebellionUK
3/5
This tweet does a great job capturing an extremely widespread theory of change on the part of climate activists and science communicators. It also contains a cascade of false premises, broken logic, and unrealistic expectations.
Thread:
Thread:
Losses from climate change have yet to outpace gains from economic growth and reduced vulnerability from improving infrastructure.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Disasters are getting more intense, but very unevenly.
Temperature events are intensifying, but the global trend in hurricanes, floods, droughts, and tornados are flatter.
rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/global-disas…
Temperature events are intensifying, but the global trend in hurricanes, floods, droughts, and tornados are flatter.
rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/global-disas…
40/ Congressional investigation forcing Big Oil to turn over these EXPLOSIVE new documents. Read them here #ExxonKnew
oversight.house.gov/news/press-rel…
NYT report has Shell saying Netzero “has nothing to do with our business plans.”
oversight.house.gov/news/press-rel…
NYT report has Shell saying Netzero “has nothing to do with our business plans.”
41/ The black goo has peaked. Global recession means oil demand has nowhere to go but down. Electrification and efficiency the rest. @davidfickling looks at drivers of oil demand & especially what oil companies themselves are doing
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
42/ Energy charter treaty ISDS-protections allow companies to sue over loss of expected profits-making it hard to retire fossil fuels. Over 100 cases brought to courts in friendly jurisdictions-DC,London,Hague!
prospect.org/environment/sh…
Spain, Dutch exit!
politico.eu/article/nether…
prospect.org/environment/sh…
Spain, Dutch exit!
politico.eu/article/nether…
My latest @locusmag column is "The Swerve," a short essay about the shape that hope takes when happy endings are off the table:
locusmag.com/2022/07/cory-d… 1/
locusmag.com/2022/07/cory-d… 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/07/05/gra… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/07/05/gra… 2/
It's specifically about the looming environmental collapse, but it also describes my view on the polycrisis of musketfuckery, forced birth, and covid denial. 3/
🧵La mia serie per @DomaniGiornale sul negazionismo climatico di Big Oil per ora è conclusa. Ho raccontato nello specifico i 6 attori coinvolti nell'indagine (ancora aperta) del Congresso americano sul ruolo del settore nella campagna di disinformazione sul clima. Recap qui:
Il 2021 è stato un anno fondamentale per quanto riguarda il percorso di accountability sul ruolo del settore fossile nel negazionismo climatico. Ma la strada è ancora lunga.
I dirigenti di Big Oil hanno adottato una linea comune durante l’udienza di ottobre al Congresso americano: quello di cui sono accusati non è mai accaduto, sostengono. In altre parole, oggi le aziende di combustibili fossili mentono sull’aver mentito:
@fakedansavage I think it says that you guys are normal inasmuch as you're falling victim to the "peak indifference" trap - where it's easy to ignore the problems with something that works well but fails badly, until those failures mount to a point where you can't ignore them anymore.
@fakedansavage It's emblematic of a LOT of different kinds of problems we have. I hear you talk to people on your show all the time who suffer from this: "The good parts are good, the bad parts are really bad, and they're not getting better, but i can just ignore them, right?"
@fakedansavage And generally you tell them, no, this isn't gonna get better (thinking generically of the people in relatively new relationships where the sex isn't very good, whom you generally advise to break things off rather than get married, move in, make a baby, etc).
This is (apparently) really happening folks. For the first time in history, CEOs of Big Oil will testify to US Congress about their multi-decade disinformation campaign to mislead the public about the climate crisis. H/t @maxinejoselow for the scoop. 1/n
washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
2/n: For quick context, I & @NaomiOreskes wrote last year about why "it is our opinion that holding the fossil fuel industry accountable would be one of the most impactful ways for Congress – & governments around the world – to combat the climate crisis." theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
3/n: Last week I reiterated that point to @bbcworldservice's #TheClimateQuestion as part of a discussion about the latest evidence of Big Oil's malfeasance:
The House Oversight Committee has called on major fossil fuel company CEOs and lobbying groups to appear before Congress on 10/28 & answer for their #ClimateDisinformation campaigns. They have until 9/23 to confirm. RT this thread to keep the pressure on. act.ucsusa.org/3Ewiu3A
.@Chevron CEO Michael Wirth must commit NOW to appearing before Congress. It’s time to answer for Big Oil’s decades of #ClimateDeception. act.ucsusa.org/3zoNFtP
.@exxonmobil CEO Darren Woods must commit NOW to appearing before Congress. It’s time to answer for Big Oil’s decades of deception. #ExxonKnew #MakeThemPay. act.ucsusa.org/3nTU7qL
The IPCC news this morning should surprise no one. I am scared, and angry. But I refuse to give up. You can't give up either. We're all in this together.
But first, we've got to be honest about the facts, and clear-eyed about how and why have failed thus far. Thread:
But first, we've got to be honest about the facts, and clear-eyed about how and why have failed thus far. Thread:
1/ In my adult lifetime, we have gone from global political consensuses to address planet-level risks (the Montreal protocol / ozone depletion) to politicization and obfuscation of climate change to hoping the next election will change things to "oops it's too late."
Facebook acquired a company called Crowdtangle in 2016; it makes a social media analytics tool that the press has used to monitor subject-matter trends on Facebook, especially in the runup to the 2020 elections.
Facebook just gutted Crowtangle.
nytimes.com/2021/07/14/tec…
1/
Facebook just gutted Crowtangle.
nytimes.com/2021/07/14/tec…
1/
If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/07/15/thr…
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pluralistic.net/2021/07/15/thr…
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Crowdtangle had operated as a semiautonomous unit within Facebook, primarily used by media companies to track the social media performance of their stories. A turning point came when the @nytimes's @kevinroose figured out how to rank posts that included links to the real web.
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3/
50 years ago, @exxonmobil's scientists warned that continued use of fossil fuels would render our planet uninhabitable by humans. Exxon's response? They buried the reports and embarked on a disinformation campaign modeled on the tobacco industry's cancer denial.
#ExxonKnew
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#ExxonKnew
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That campaign continues, even as floods-of-the-century crop up every month or two, as thousand-year heatwaves strike again and again, as wildfires stain our skies the color of blood and zoonitic plagues shut down all activity for years at a time.
exxonknew.org
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exxonknew.org
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Exxon, of course, claims that they're good corporate citizens, committed to preserving the habitability of the only known planet in the entire universe capable of supporting our species.
It's a total lie.
3/
It's a total lie.
3/
"Corruption" conjures images of bags of cash changing hands in deserted parking garages, but I'd like to propose a simple and concrete definition that goes beyond that: "Corruption" is when something bad happens because its harms are diffused and its gains are concentrated.
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/06/30/bas…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/30/bas…
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Here's what I mean. West Virginia is known as coal country, but coal is actually a small, dwindling industry in WV; WV's biggest industry is chemical processing, dominated by Dow - chem processing, like many industries, is heavily concentrated into a few global monopolies.
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For those claiming yesterday's (genuinely brilliant) Exxon/Chevron shareholder climate victories are an argument against fossil fuel divestment, remember that shareholder engagement with Big Oil achieved precisely nothing for 25 years. 1/n
insideclimatenews.org/news/16112015/…
insideclimatenews.org/news/16112015/…
2/n: Then divestment came along. As did #KeepItInTheGround & #Blockadia. As did grassroots organizing @350, @sunrisemvmt, @ExtinctionR, @GretaThunberg @Fridays4future et al. As did a collapsing climate & shifting energy econ. As did #ExxonKnew journalism.blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/t…
When powerful people and organizations design images of the future, they are desiging a future for themselves. In that process, they leave the rest of humanity with a future that looks more like what I would call an “undesigned negative image” of those designed futures.
#Thread
#Thread
This thread builds on things I’ve argued before but has been sparked by this great essay by @mockitecture (via @nils_gilman):
“If companies control the image of the future, then they control the future itself, and can control the infrastructure.”
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
“If companies control the image of the future, then they control the future itself, and can control the infrastructure.”
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
When I teach courses on design futures, and specifically when I use the slightly stronger phrase in Spanish “diseño de futuros” (i.e. "design of futures"), I always put forward an idea that often encounters some pushback but is perfectly captured in the quote above by Shaw.
The third stage of grief is bargaining. When the climate emergency hove into sight, we started with denial (Exxon's criminal suppression of its own research on the looming crisis #ExxonKnew).
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1/
From there, it was onto anger: slurs like "treehugger" and performative Drill-Baby-Drill-style incursions into protected lands.
But now we're into bargaining: can't we please keep the rapacious, immoral system that jeopardized our planet and species?
2/
But now we're into bargaining: can't we please keep the rapacious, immoral system that jeopardized our planet and species?
2/
In other words: carbon offsets.
Rather than punishing firms and executives who sacrificed our planet and species for their short-term gains, we'll just give them a path to realizing even handsomer rewards for not murdering us all.
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Rather than punishing firms and executives who sacrificed our planet and species for their short-term gains, we'll just give them a path to realizing even handsomer rewards for not murdering us all.
3/
