| Business Action On Climate Change |
Article Index for Business |
Website Links For Business |
Information AboutBusiness Action On Climate Change |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BUSINESS ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE | |
| energy | |
| action on climate change | |
|
OVERVIEW In 1989, the oil and automotive industries and the National Association of Manufacturers created the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) to oppose mandatory actions to address global warming. In 1997, when the Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution against ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, the industry funded a $13 million industry advertising blitz in the run-up to the vote. {Link without Title} In 1998 the '', resigned his White House post after accusations of politically-motivated tampering with scientific reports. {Link without Title} In 2002 the GCC considered its work in the US against regulation on global warming to have been so successful that it "deactivated" itself, {Link without Title} although the loss of some leading members may also have been a factor. At the same time, since 1989 many previously skeptical oil and automobile industry corporations have changed their position as the political and scientific consensus has grown, with the creation of the Kyoto Protocol and the publication of the International Panel On Climate Change 's Second and Third Assessment Report s. These corporations include major oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell , Texaco , and BP , as well as automobile manufacturers like Ford , General Motors , and DaimlerChrysler . Some of these have joined with the Pew Center On Global Climate Change , a non-profit organization aiming to support efforts to address global climate change. {Link without Title} ENERGY INDUSTRY ExxonMobil ExxonMobil has been a leading figure in the business world's position on climate change, providing substantial funding to a range of global-warming-skeptical organizations. '' Mother Jones '' counted some 40 ExxonMobil-funded organizations that "either have sought to undermine mainstream scientific findings on global climate change or have maintained affiliations with a small group of "skeptic" scientists who continue to do so." Between 2000 and 2003 these organizations received more than $8m in funding. {Link without Title} It has also had a key influence in the Bush administration's energy policy, including on the , Robert Watson . At the same time, it has for internal business reasons invested in some , with Stanford University , and other programs at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology , Carnegie Mellon University and the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Research And Development Program . Some of Exxon's activities on climate change produced strong criticism from environmental groups, including reactions such as a leaflet produced by the Stop Esso Campaign , saying 'Don't buy E$', and featuring a tiger hand setting fire to the Earth. The company's carbon dioxide emissions are more than 50% higher than those of British rival BP, despite the US firm's oil and gas production being only slightly larger. {Link without Title} According to a 2004 study commissioned by Friends Of The Earth , ExxonMobil and its predecessors caused 4.7 to 5.3 percent of the world's man-made carbon dioxide emissions between 1882 and 2002. The group suggested that such studies could form the basis for eventual legal action. {Link without Title} BP BP left the Global Climate Coalition in 1997 and said that global warming was a problem that had to be dealt with, although it subsequently joined others in lobbying the Australian government not to sign the Kyoto Protocol unless the US did. In March 2002 in one of its North Sea oil fields, by pumping Carbon Dioxide into them (and thereby also increasing yields).[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1469010,00.html Others American Electric Power , the world's largest private producer of carbon dioxide, said in 2005 that targets for carbon reduction "represent a common-sense approach that can begin the process of lowering emissions along a gradual, cost-effective path." The company complained that "uncertainties over the cost of carbon" made it very difficult to make decisions about capital investment. {Link without Title} DuPont has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% since 1990, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. "Give us a date, tell us how much we need to cut, give us the flexibility to meet the goals, and we'll get it done", Xcel Energy CEO Wayne Brunetti told '' Business Week '' in 2004. {Link without Title} INSURANCE INDUSTRY In 2004 Swiss Re , the world's second largest reinsurance company, warned that the economic costs of climate-related disasters threatened to reach $150 billion a year within ten years. {Link without Title} MEDIA In the UK, some newspapers ('' Daily Mail '', '' Daily Telegraph '') are significantly skeptical, while most others (with varying enthusiasm, '' The Independent '' giving it most prominence) support action on global warming. Overall, British newspapers have given the issue three times more coverage than US newspapers. {Link without Title} |
|
|