Put a Liar in Your Tank

White House official who edited climate reports moves to Exxon

Philip Cooney, the White House official (and former oil-industry lobbyist) recently outed for watering down government climate-change reports, has left his position in the Bush administration to take a new job at ... wait for it ... ExxonMobil. Now, we know what you're thinking, but you've got it all wrong. His sudden departure is "completely unrelated" to the controversy over his editing of research reports, said a White House spokesflack. His new job at Exxon, which the company declined to describe, is no doubt also completely unrelated to his willingness to fudge climate science -- an activity that Exxon has elevated to an art form. ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond is unapologetic about his position that anthropogenic global warming is a myth and that his company will not be wasting time or money on clean energy technologies like wind and solar. Cooney should fit right in. Said David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council, "Perhaps he won't even notice he has changed jobs."