ExxonMobil Finances Astrophysicist Who Denies Polar Bears
(Washington, DC) U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC) has sent a letter to the ExxonMobil Corporation requesting all records since 2002 related to their support for scientists working on polar bears and other Arctic animals.
This request comes in the wake of an “opinion” piece appearing in the journal Ecological Complexity by seven scientists claiming that there is no evidence of decline in the polar bear population of West Hudson Bay as a result of global warming. In an acknowledgement at the end of the article, one of the lead authors, Dr. Willie Soon, thanked ExxonMobil (along with the Charles G. Koch Foundation and the American Petroleum Institute) for their support of his work on polar bears.
Chairman Miller commented, “In a letter dated June 1, 2007 ExxonMobil assured the Subcommittee that they use their funding of science on the environment to produce sound science. It's hard to see this article as rigorous, sound science. The article has all the trappings of being peer-reviewed analysis based on independent research when it is little more than an editorial that received no peer-review. ExxonMobil assured the Subcommittee that they want to inform public debate through their funding of science. The purpose of the article appears to be to provide a façade of scientific respectability to those who say the polar bear is just fine, but there's nothing behind the façade. Those who oppose listing the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act are now citing the Soon Essay to justify their opposition.”
The State of Alaska cited the piece extensively in their filing with the Fish and Wildlife Service opposing the polar bear's listing.
“The Subcommittee wants to understand how ExxonMobil decided to fund an astrophysicist to do research on polar bears,” continued Miller. “We have asked for their files on funding for Dr. Soon in this area as well as funding of any other researchers working on Arctic animal species. The public deserves to know if ExxonMobil is funding other scientists who work on animal species in this region, who are less open than Dr. Soon about the source of those funds.”
ExxonMobil is a partner in the Alyeska pipeline corporation and runs oil operations on Alaska’s North Slope. Steps to save the polar bear may have a direct or indirect impact on operations in the Arctic, including the North Slope of Alaska.
The letter to ExxonMobil was sent yesterday, the same day that Chairman Miller held a hearing covering the major global warming-related challenges facing the Arctic, including the fate of the polar bear as projected by the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Susan Hazeltine of USGS appeared as a witness as did Ms. Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity, a lead complainant in the suit which ultimately forced the Administration to undertake the process of listing the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Public comments on the proposed listing are being gathered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of Interior.
Read the complete text of the Chairman’s letter to ExxonMobil here.
Access the webcast of yesterday’s subcommittee hearing here.
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