Intrigued to see two stories in yesterday’s Guardian giving the latest news on the efforts of some parts of the Rockefeller family to get ExxonMobil, the company John D Rockefeller co-founded way back in 1870 (as Standard Oil), to accept the reality of climate change. The first story is here, the second here.
Put me in mind of the time, many years ago, when I flew in to Stavanger in Norway to speak to 300 oil people (mainly men). Part-way through my speech, just where I was talking about Exxon’s funding of climate deniers, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson strode into the back of the room with aides. He roared across the heads of the delegates words to the effect that, “That’s a godamm lie!”
We had a short altercation over the 300 heads, with my reading – despite the fact that he was apparently once an Eagle Scout – being that some people imagine that shouting their own lie makes it more credible.
Great to see the Rockefeller Brothers Fund joining the fossil fuels divestment movement, with 78 foundations now signed up to the Divest-Invest campaign, according to the The Guardian, and a target of 200 by the time the COP21 conference opens its doors in Paris this December.
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