re: #378 Naso Tang

What specific benefit would Exxon gain from supporting the idiots of the day?

What happened when oil decreased from $5/gallon last fall? Year-on-year profits for ExxonMobil fell 33%. That is bad for shareholder value and bad for the bottom line. High prices keep consumption down. What could cause high prices? Taxes. Why would people support a tax on gasoline? If a consensus forms that it is bad for society and we need the revenue to fund alternative research and subsidize other industries. A good example is to look at Europe where consumption is far below the US and one reason is the high taxation on gasoline.

It’s not a hard line of logic. They are protecting their market, and one way to do it is PR. Why don’t you explain why they finance the “institutes” of the leading skeptics?