Turning Up The Heat On Mobil - Global Warming Villain No. 1
29 June 2001: Auckland: Greenpeace activists on the streets are drawing attention to Mobil’s (1) regressive attitude
towards the greatest environmental threat the planet faces, global warming.
Tuesday, Thursday and today Greenpeace has peacefully protested at Mobil service stations, giving the message to
pedestrians and motorists that ‘Mobil + Bush = Global Warming’. “Greenpeace will continue to take this campaign to the
streets to make sure that New Zealanders learn the facts about Mobil”, said Sue Connor, Greenpeace campaigner.
“Mobil stands out as the worst global climate wrecking fossil fuel corporate in the world. Mobil funded George W Bush’s
election campaign to the tune of over US$1 million, and lobbied him to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol. As soon as Bush
got into power he tore up the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty to prevent global warming. This was exactly
what Mobil was seeking.
Mobil is actively undermining the science of global warming, to the extent that they have funded scientists who are
sceptical about global warming (2) and continue to push the theory that burning fossil fuels does not cause global
warming. This is despite advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2,500 of the climate experts
that indeed global is happening and it is mainly caused by burning fossil fuels which releases the greenhouse gas,
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“On top of all of this, Mobil made NZ$45 billion in profits last year, is pouring NZ$17 billion into new fossil fuel
exploration, but is not investing in new renewable energy such as wind and solar. Mobil’s behaviour is tantamount to
funding and fuelling global warming.
“It is quite ironic that Mobil’s latest catch phrase, “a whole new generation of fuels” creates the impression that its
fossil fuels are good for New Zealand and future generations. On the contrary burning fossil fuels cause global
warming”.
New Zealanders can join the campaign by logging into www.stopmobil .net and sending a message to tell Mobil that New
Zealanders don’t want global warming, and to stop undermining the Kyoto Protocol and stop funding global warming.
Notes to the editor:
(1) Mobil is known in the United States as Exxon Mobil and in Europe as Esso
(2) It was revealed recently on the current affairs programme, Sixty Minutes, that Exxon Mobil funded climate sceptic
Fred Singer
For more information contact Sue Connor, Greenpeace climate campaigner on (09) 630 6317 or 025 272 4044, or Brendan
Lynch, press officer on 025 790 817. See also www.stopmobil.net