It started with James Black's talk to Exxon executives.  Black was a senior company scientist.  In 1977 at Exxon headquarters, he delivered a sobering message: carbon dioxide from the world's use of fossil fuels would warm the planet and could eventually endanger humanity.  The executives listened.  They responded with large investments into science research.  The enthusiam for understanding the damage caused by fossil fuels dropped by 1981.  Within a decade of Black's scientific assessment, Exxon switched retreated from the front lines of climate science and joined the front lines of climate denial.   Following an eight-month investigation by InsideClimateNews, four articles have been published along with internal company documents.  This is a story about one company, and it is a story that has shaped humanity's response to climate change.  CO2.Earth spotlights links to the InsideClimateNews stories because it's a revealing story worth understanding.

Exxon: The Road Not Taken

 Inside Climate News  Project Page

Inside Climate News  Cast of Characters

Inside Climate News  Exxon Documents

Inside Climate News  Timeline: Long Tale of Exxon and Climate Change

Inside Climate News  FRONTLINE video about Exxon's early research into climate change

Inside Climate News  1 Exxon research confirms fossil fule role in global warming

Inside Climate News  2 Exxon Believed Climate Research Would Protect its Business

Inside Climate News  3 Exxon In-House Climate Models Confirm Global Warming in 1982

Inside Climate News  4

OnTheMedia.org  Exxon responds to Inside Climate News via Radio