[piano]
>> Proponents of the global warming theory
say that higher levels of greenhouse gases
are causing world temperatures to rise
and that burning fossil fuels is the reason.
The scientific evidence remains inconclusive
as to whether human activities
affect the global climate.
>> NEELA BANERJEE: We found a trail of documents
that go back to 1977.
Exxon knew carbon dioxide was increasing
in the atmosphere,
that combustion fossil fuels were driving it,
and that this posed a threat to Exxon.
At that time Exxon understood very quickly
that governments would probably take action
to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
They’re smart people, great scientists.
And they saw the writing on the wall.
>> ED GARVEY: We were collecting data:
the Southern Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico,
and the western Indian Ocean.
Basically every hour
we would get several measurements.
I called it a data monster.
We were committed.
We were doing some serious science.
It was a significant budget.
I would say on the scale of
a million dollars a year.
And that was a lot of money in 1979.
We were generating what we thought
was state of the art information.
We were doing science that
we didn’t think in any way, shape, or form
would be questioned.
There was no questioning that the
atmospheric carbon dioxide was increasing,
that atmospheric carbon dioxide was going to
change the climate in some fashion.
The question was how fast,
how much, and what kind of impacts
would it have overall to the planet.
[acoustic guitar]
>> BANERJEE: I think all of this is surprising
given what Exxon started to do in the 90s.
>> RAYMOND: Many scientists agree there is
ample time to better understand
climate systems and consider policy options.
So there's simply no reason
to take drastic action now.
>> BANERJEE: They claimed that there
wasn't enough science to back any kind
of decision to reduce carbon emissions from
the combustion of fossil fuels,
when in fact, by the time they started
staking out that position,
they had known the science for
probably about 15 years, if not longer.
They ended up instead leading the denial
and clouding of public perceptions of science.
I mean, the change is amazing.
And that story is what's not known.
[guitar rings out]
