Any idea how this is going to be spun? Me neither:
Philip A. Cooney, the White House staff member who repeatedly revised government scientific reports on global warming, will go to work for ExxonMobil in the fall, the oil company said today.
Mr. Cooney resigned on Friday as chief of staff to President Bush’s environmental policy council, two days after documents obtained by The New York Times showed that he had edited the reports in ways that cast doubt on the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures.
A former lawyer and lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, the main lobbying group for the oil industry, Mr. Cooney has no scientific training.
The White House, which said Friday that there was no connection between last week’s disclosure and Mr. Cooney’s resignation, repeated today that Mr. Cooney’s actions were part of the normal review process for documents on environmental issues involving many government agencies.
“Phil Cooney did a great job,” said Dana Perino, a deputy White House spokeswoman, “and we appreciate his public service and the work that he did, and we wish him well in the private sector.”
An Exxon spokesman, Tom Cirigliano, declined to describe Mr. Cooney’s new job. Associates of Mr. Cooney said he planned to move to Dallas. Mr. Cooney did not return e-mail or phone messages.ExxonMobil has long financed advertising and lobbying efforts that question whether human-caused warming poses sufficiently serious risks to justify curbing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by smokestacks and tailpipes.
I understand that he was an oil industry lawyer before he went to the Administration, so it makes sense he would work for the oil industry afterwards, but Jeebus.
metalgrid
Just because it looks bad, doesn’t mean it is. Besides, things like this can be squashed if it can’t be spun.
he had edited the reports in ways that cast doubt on the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures.
Or maybe the doubts would be there regardless of whether he edited it or not? I’ve yet to see conclusive proof correlating the two. All there’s been to see has been a 0.07 – 0.09 rise in temperature every decade which no one has conclusively linked to greenhouse gas emissions or general global trends in climate change.
akaoni
No of course not, there
Simon
I know I’ll get blasted for linking to this, but I recently read this article which points out how much effort (and cash) ExxonMobil puts into refuting any idea of global warming. It’s an interesting article with plenty of factual references, but I’m sure many here will blow it off because of the source. Still, I’d be interested to know John’s opinion on it, given the subject of this post.
Glenn R
I wonder what percentage of people who read TechCentralStation also read MoJo?
John Cole
For thos of you who don;t know what Glenn is talking about, click here.
I can think of one person, Glenn, although I usually only read Mother Jones when I am really bored and there is nothing to write about, then I go and read whatever is available. It isn’t a daily stop.
Simon
I read them both myself actually, but not all that often. So apparently does John and so do you Glenn, but I’d be willing to bet there’s an equal number of people who read both exclusively and have no desire to cross the line.
That said, I read most of the current articles on TCS re: climate change after I read the MoJo article. Sorry Glenn, but I just don’t agree with your boys on this issue. The idea that a massive corporation like ExxonMobil has less reason to fudge the numbers than the scientific community is laughable. It would be nice if you were right, but I’m just not buying it.
I do think it’s awesome that the first banner ad I saw was from ExxonMobil.
Glenn R
Glenn R is an anonymous imposter who will cease and desist starting now. The point I wanted to make has been achieved.
Thomas
Simon,
You’re right. Those scientists and their peer-reviewed data and publications and commitment to truth and openness are an especially tricky and decepitive bunch. Don’t bother with the massive evidence for climate challenge. It’s a scam and they’re all in on it. Why did scientists start this hoax? Who knows.All you have to do is believe. Just believe.
Simon
FWIW, I was never under the assumption that the Exxon/TCS relationship was some sort of shady, hidden conspiracy. I just wasn’t aware of how responsible Exxon was for funding so much of the challenge to global warming science. Sorry if I don’t extend ‘trust but verify’ to the company that has the most to gain by obfuscating.