This “Evolution of Mobil’s Public Affairs Programs 1970-1981” report outlines oil major Mobil Corporation’s public affairs (PA) strategy to influence opinion leaders and the public through their advertorial program, media blitzes, and think tank collaboration. First released on Amy Westervelt’s podcast Drilled, and featured in her Washington Post editorial, this document further elucidates how the fossil fuel industry convinced media […]
February 29, 1980 the American Petroleum Institute hosts a meeting with its CO2 and Climate Task Force comprised of fossil fuel industry representatives from Exxon, Texaco, and Standard Oil. The meeting was called to discuss research needs regarding the rise in atmospheric CO2, to establish API’s position on “climate matters,” and to edit API’s technical […]
Exxon’s R.J. Campion memo to J.T. Burgess regarding comments on the American Petroleum Institute’s background paper on CO2 effects. Exxon supports the “API conclusion that no industry research on CO2 (“Greenhouse”) Effects be initiated at this time.” Exxon also wants API’s paper to reflect that the earth is “now in a cooling phase, due to normal cyclic […]
A 1967 survey conducted on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute to gauge the public’s understanding of water and air pollution and their respective attitudes toward industry accountability. The API interprets the survey to reflect that the “public at large” is unaware of what industry is doing to reduce pollution and that, as a result, […]
This document, uncovered by Benjamin Franta in a letter to the Editor of Nature, contains the annual remarks of the American Petroleum Institute’s (“API”) President, Frank Ikard. Delivered in 1965, Ikard was preparing the oil industry for the challenges in the coming year. Significant for his acknowledgement of the 1965 Science Advisory Committee report (“Report”) that highlighted climate change and carbon emission hazards, Ikard worried of the industry’s challenges as they “grow in number, size, and complexity year by year.” In the face of The Water Quality Act, Clean Air Act amendment, and local regulations addressing pollution, Ikard said “[i]t takes no crystal ball to see that our involvement in government matters will intensify in the year ahead.”
This document is a 1961 report by G.A. Lloyd, the coordinator of public affairs for Esso Standard of ExxonMobil titled “The Petroleum Industries’ Air Pollution Control Program.” Lloyd was also the chairman of the Information Committee of the American Petroleum Institute’s Smoke and Fumes Committee. In this piece, Lloyd details API’s air pollution research, which, […]
This document is a 1958 report by Executive Secretary of API’s Smoke and Fumes Committee, Charles Jones, titled, “A Review of the Air Pollution Research Program of the Smoke and Fumes Committee of the American Petroleum Institute.” The report signifies that the oil industry was conducting studies to determine the effect of fossil fuel sources […]
This document is a 1954 article written by Vance Jenkins on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute’s Smoke and Fumes Committee, titled “The Petroleum Industry Sponsors Air Pollution Research.” The article reveals that oil industry executives were aware that air pollution could become a “very serious problem” as early as the 1920’s. Jenkins argues that government […]