I Say Good Day to You, Sir

Brit scientists tell Exxon to stop the poppycock and folderol

In a highly unusual move, Britain's top scientific body earlier this month sent a letter to ExxonMobil -- since leaked to the press -- calling on the oil giant to stop lying ... er, misrepresenting the science of climate change, and to stop funding other organizations that do so. Based on what he calls his "ad hoc survey" of Exxon's list of supported research organizations, Bob Ward of the Royal Society said that some 39 of them were issuing misleading information about global warming, "by outright denial of the evidence that greenhouse gases are driving climate change, or by overstating the amount and significance of uncertainty in knowledge, or by conveying a misleading impression of the potential impacts of anthropogenic climate change." More than $2.9 million went to such organizations, said Ward. ExxonMobil denied any lying, and rushed to point out that as of this year it had ceased funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute, creators of the now-legendary "CO2 ... we call it life" ads, which never get any less funny.