Deck 25: Union of Concerned Scientists, Smoke, Mirrors Hot Air: How Exxonmobil Uses Big Tobaccos Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science

Question 1

The recent era of global warming was declared to have commenced in:

A) 1970, when the Environmental Protection Agency was created.
B) 1972, at the United Nations Conference in Stockholm.
C) 1988, by the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
D) 1995, at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following companies have begun to invest in clean energy technologies and publicly committed to reduce their heat-trapping emissions?

A) BP
B) Occidental Petroleum
C) Shell
D) all of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Gelbspan proposed that new energy systems, which would replace the consumption of fossil fuels, could be developed in as little as:

A) 8 years.
B) 10 years.
C) 20 years.
D) 50 years.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

ExxonMobil has drawn across a broad spectrum of scientists representing multiple disciplines to challenge the claim that global warming is a naturally occurring process.

Question 5

If it were a country, ExxonMobil would rank sixth in the world in emissions from end use combustion of its products.

Question 6

There has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial era.

Question 7

Which of the following industries formed the Global Climate Coalition in 1989 to aggressively respond to emerging scientific studies about global warming and oppose governmental action designed to address the problem?

A) Exxon
B) American Petroleum Institute
C) other energy, automotive, and industrial companies
D) none of the above

Question 8

Scientists now agree that the unprecedented rate of global warming is caused primarily by human activity.

Question 9

Which of the following corporations is the most profitable in history?

A) Occidental Petroleum
B) American Petroleum Institute
C) Shell
D) ExxonMobil

Question 10

Describe how ExxonMobil has manufactured uncertainty about the scientific consensus on global warming. In what ways is this campaign similar to efforts by the tobacco industry to prevent government regulation?

Question 11

The fundamental principle that heat-trapping emissions influence the Earth's temperature was first discovered in 1896.

Question 12

Compare and contrast the evidence to support and refute the claim that human activity is causing global warming. Which argument is more convincing in your opinion? Why?