Exxon Knew!

We’re seeing, around and about, an insistence that Exxon knew all about CO2 levels and so on back in the 1970s, even the 1960s. We’ll leave it to others to discuss more fully the implications of that, we just want to make the one apposite comment.

So the allegation, claim, insistence, is that privately funded, within a corporation, science was more accurate and earlier by a couple of decades than publicly funded science and governments. We have got that right, yes?

Therefore, when we look around today at who is predicting what for 40 and 50 years in the future we should be looking to what source? The publicly funded science and governments who have been late and wrong? Or the corporate estimates of the future that were early and right?

Assuming that original allegation, claim, insistence, is correct then clearly it’s the latter, isn’t it? The views of those with skin in the long term game - the corporates - have a better view of the future than those playing politics over the same points.

So, for example, rather than believing what politics tells us about the need for the circular economy, recycling everything and the looming shortages of critical minerals we should be looking to the estimates from mining companies about what that future holds. You know, the insistences that we might have a shortage of current holes we get our minerals from but there’s no shortage of the actual minerals themselves?

Oh, good. So, everyone who is insisting that Exxon Knew! is indeed on board with the scientific proof that we’ve not got a minerals problem then, yes? Glad we've been able to settle that one.