Geoffrey Supran@GeoffreySupran
Mar 22, 2019
15 tweets
I just testified as an expert witness to EU Parliament about ExxonMobil's decades of climate denial + delay. Between being the first major hearing of its kind, a leaked Exxon memo, & the rising prospect of Exxon being banned from EU lobbying, it was an interesting day. THREAD
2/n: You can watch the full hearing here (my testimony starts at 11:53:13, and my responses to some, ahem, enthusiastic Q&A start at 12:37): europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/com
3/n: As @ClimateLawNews reported, this was the first time any major body of lawmakers has heard on-record evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s decades of climate denial. climateliabilitynews.org/2019/03/21/eu-
4/n: I’ll post my slides and the press conference video ASAP, but in the meantime, here’s my conclusion slide. I shared three key takeaways with Parliamentarians...
5/n: Takeaway #1 - Big Oil is the new Big Tobacco. From strategy and tactics to infrastructure and rhetoric, the fossil fuel industry’s denial and delay come straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook.
6/n: Takeaway #2 - ExxonMobil is a case in point. My and @NaomiOreskes's peer reviewed analysis demonstrates beyond doubt that ExxonMobil misled the public about climate science and its implications. nytimes.com/2017/08/22/opi
7/n: Takeaway #3 - This is just the tip of the iceberg. One cog in a well-funded, well-oiled climate denial machine.
8/n: For an up-to-date summary of the history of the fossil fuel industry's climate knowledge & denial, see this amicus brief submitted by colleagues and I to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of CA climate lawsuits: x.com/geoffreysupran
Geoffrey Supran@GeoffreySupran
Jan 30 19
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Less than a decade after World War II, the fossil fuel industry was studying CO2 pollution. Within a few years, it knew its products threatened global warming. Its response? To turn around & orchestrate an anti-science, anti-policy denial campaign dwarfing even Big Tobacco's. 1/n
9/n: And something else happened yesterday. Exxon refused to come to the hearing, choosing instead to smear me and @NaomiOreskes behind the scenes, in a now-leaked memo sent to MEPs the day before the hearing. x.com/_aploy/status/
Ploy Achakulwisut, PhD@climateploy
Mar 21 19
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So... Exxon is now trying to disinform the #EUparliament on Exxon's history of #ClimateDisinformation, attacking academics @Geoffrey Supran & @NaomiOreskes' peer-reviewed research in the shadows with "evidence" from an expert-for-hire. This is #MerchantsOfDoubt 101. #ExxonKnew
10/n: This is doubt mongering and character assassination-101, and it backfired. It shows that even though Exxon says it has changed, its sabotage of science and its slander of scientists continue.
11/n: Also, and ironically, it exemplified the very corporate capture this EU hearing was called to address. It is a smoking gun of how the industry operates in the shadows to stymie action on climate change.
12/n: This was plain for Ministers of Parliament to see. Immediately following the hearing, Minister of Parliament @MollyMEP announced that she would formally request that Exxon be banned from lobbying the EU. @AFP News Agency's @Lachlan Carmichael has the deets: news.yahoo.com/eu-parliament-
13/n: And as @The Guardian's @Arthur Neslen reports, "ExxonMobil would become only the second multinational – after Monsanto – to lose access to MEPs, parliamentary meetings and digital resources if it loses a high-level vote expected by the end of April.": theguardian.com/business/2019/
14/n: My thanks to @European Parliament for its unprecedented attention to these issues and for inviting me. And thanks of course to the dozens of colleagues, scholars, and journalist I channeled and cited in my testimony. Onwards.
15/n: UPDATE 
Here's a full recording of my testimony along with accompanying slides. WATCH: facebook.com/1243521/videos
Here's a full recording of my testimony along with accompanying slides. WATCH: facebook.com/1243521/videos
Geoffrey Supran
@GeoffreySupran
Professor of Environmental Science & Policy and Director of Climate Accountability Lab at University of Miami investigating Big Oil's climate propaganda.
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