A friend just alerted me to the website PlantsNeedCO2.org, which is running ads on NYTimes.com. From the site’s “about us” page:
Our mission is to educate the public on the positive effects of additional atmospheric CO2 and help prevent the inadvertent negative impact to human, plant and animal life if we reduce CO2. Plants Need CO2 is a 501 (c)(3) non profit corporation.
How do I say this? False.
I know you’re never gonna believe who really owns the website ... Big Oil.
It’s registered to Quintana Minerals Corporation:
Quintana Minerals Corporation provides oil and gas exploration services to the energy sector. The company also offers crude oil and natural gas production services. Quintana Minerals Corporation was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
The site’s “spokesman,” H. Leighton Steward, is actually an honorary director at the American Petroleum Institute. He’s also a director at EOG Resources, an oil and gas company, a position in which he earned a whopping $617,151 last year. Steward is formerly head of Burlington Resources, now a part of ConocoPhillips) and former Chairman of the U.S. Oil and Gas Association and the Natural Gas Supply Association. Not a word about any of that in his bio on the site.
Yet more lies by Big Oil in an effort to protect their record profits by derailing clean energy legislation. If you’ve witnessed any other fraud by Big Oil, email the new Polluter Fraud Citizens Tipline at tips@polluterfraud.com.
Exploring the extreme frontiers of oil drilling
Two new documentaries—‘Crude’ and ‘Fuel’—examine two sides of our petroleum problem
Comments
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Anon92107 Posted 3:56 am
05 Sep 2009
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skitters Posted 7:56 am
08 Sep 2009
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birdboy2 Posted 10:40 am
09 Sep 2009
just like they need water, and sunshine, and soil.
But too much of a good thing, great troubles can bring.
Too much water and their poor roots will rot;
too much sunshine and green leaves will wither;
and if the soil's too deep, the seed can't get out.
I think you'll concede, there's a balance plants need-
It's the amount of CO2, for plants, and for people, too.
Too much makes us warmer, as the greenhouse can show,
and plants, just like people, need fair weather to grow.
So let's not pretend that the world's gonna end
if we try to reduce our fossil fuel use.
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Anna Haynes Posted 12:01 pm
23 Sep 2009
Yes, that's probably better than using their phone number (which isn't user-friendly).
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Anna Haynes Posted 12:08 pm
23 Sep 2009
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