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8/1/2016 More Exxon Documents Show How Much It Knew About Climate 35 Years Ago | InsideClimate News
escapes into the atmosphere, a process known as
"upwelling."
Piercy disagreed, arguing the oceans can hold higher
concentrations of CO2 without releasing it into the
air. (As it turns out, Weinberg was right, though
overall, the world's oceans act as a global sink,
pulling C02 from the air into the water and helping
dampen the effects of climate change.)
Other memos from the early 1980s (here and here)
show that ER&E staff regularly apprised at least one
other senior vice president, M.E.J. O'Loughlin, of the
latest climate research, too.
Exxon's Lead Climate Researcher Presents: The
Company's Position on the CO2 Greenhouse
Effect (1981)
In this May 15, 1981 memo, Exxon estimates a 3-
degree Celsius rise in global average temperatures in
100 years, and appears ready to discuss publicly that a
time could arrive when the world would have to shift to
renewable energy. Exxon thought such a transition
could happen in a gradual, "orderly" way
GCNCRAL - m-l-lB
INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE
- rr-'. date May 15, 1981
TO
FROM
Dr. E. E. David, Jr.
Henry Shaw
REFERENCE
SUBJECT
CO2 Position Statement
In case the issue comes up at the San Francisco Symposium,
attached is a brief summary of our current position on the CO2
Greenhouse effect.
HSrksc
Attachment
c: R. E. Barnum
C. M. Eidt, Jr.
D. Fiske
L. E. Furlong
B. C. Hayworth
Click to view the full document.
By 1981, Exxon had already established itself as a
leader on the greenhouse effect with many in
industry and the government. In early May of that
year, Henry Shaw prepared a "brief summary of our
current position on the CO2 Greenhouse effect" for
App. 584
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