This document is a 1988 presentation given by Mobil researcher J. P. McCullough at a research and engineering executive team meeting on the status of Mobil’s Environmental Health and Safety Department. In the presentation, McCullough responds to a New York Times article that suggested a sharp cut in the use of fossil fuels would help […]
This document, revealed through a Los Angeles Times investigation, features statements by Joseph M. Carlson, an Exxon spokesperson. In the document, Carlson states that the “greenhouse effect” may be one of the most significant environmental issues of the 1990’s and that the main greenhouse gases are by-products of fossil fuels. Carlson admits that the increase of […]
This document contains a chart from a 1988 New York Times front page, which graphs the global temperature change since 1880. The graph, created by James Hansen, a leading expert on climate change at NASA, makes clear that global warming was a well-established fact that attracted wide public attention as early as 1988. The chart was used as evidence at […]
This 1988 Shell report, discovered by Jelmer Mommers of De Correspondent, shines light on what the company knew about climate science, its own role in driving global CO2 emissions, the range of potential political and social responses to a warming world. The confidential report, “The Greenhouse Effect,” was authored by members of Shell’s Greenhouse Effect […]
This 1988 research proposal and purchase order from Shell Western outlines Shell’s work in using sea level and sea temperature to determine the longevity of their operations in Alaska. The proposal, “An Analog System for Prediction of Sea Ice Severity,” was sent by E.G. Ward, then Manager of Shell’s Offshore Engineering Research Department, to J. […]
This 1988 document is a slide deck presentation for the Management Committee of Esso Resources Canada Limited titled “Brundtland Report Overview/Implications.” Esso is still the Canadian trading name for ExxonMobil and its related companies, including its Canadian subsidiary company Imperial Oil Ltd. The presentation summarizes the conclusions of the 1987 Brundtland Report, written by the […]
On April 15, 1987 Mobil Vice President, Herbert Schmertz, gave a speech at Fairfield University in Connecticut titled, “Patronage that Pays.” The speech applauds Mobil’s “affinity-of-purpose” marketing strategy, a strategy to “align the company with some worthy endeavor that most of our target audience would happily endorse.” Schmertz describes Mobil’s patronage of PBS’s Masterpiece Theater as […]
This 1987 briefing document, intended for inter-company distribution, covers “Synthetic fuels and renewable energy.” Flagging future trends of increased energy efficiency, renewables overtaking fossil fuels, and an internal interest in being a part of that market shift, this document is helpful in understanding Shell’s relationship with lower carbon-content energy sources. This document is a part […]
This 1986 collection of papers and articles cover Shell’s research regarding its “Coal Gasification Process.” This document is a part of a larger collection discovered by Jelmer Mommers of De Correspondent in a trove of internal Shell documents. 1986 Shell “Coal Gasification Process” Series (PDF) 1986 Shell “Coal Gasification Process” Series (Text) Interested in more […]
This is a presentation given by Exxon Research and Engineering Company’s Brian P. Flannery, who became one of Exxon’s primary climate researchers after joining the company in 1980. His initial research for Exxon on the relationship between CO2 and climate change confirmed the results that other scientists were finding at the time, predicting that doubling […]