October 13, 1997, Exxon Corporation’s Lee Raymond, chairman and CEO, spoke at the World Petroleum Congress in Beijing, China. Lee Raymond was speaking two months in advance of the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3), in Kyoto, Japan.

Lee Raymond said that there are parties asking for binding agreements to cut the use of fossil fuels because “burning fossil fuels causes global warming.” However, Raymond told the audience, “Let me briefly address three key questions. Is the Earth really warming? Does burning fossil fuels cause global warming? And do we now have a reasonable scientific basis for predicting future temperature?”

Raymond answered his questions with, “So the case for so called global warming is far from air tight… Let’s agree there’s a lot we really don’t know about how climate will change in the 21st century and beyond… Before we make choices about global climate policies, we need an open debate on the science…”