www.eenews.net /articles/big-oil-document-dump-spotlights-industry-influence-in-academia/

Big Oil document dump spotlights industry influence in academia

Emma Dumain, Corbin Hiar15-19 minutes 5/1/2024

The oil and gas industry has sought to leverage its financial support for top academic institutions to paper over contradictions between companies’ climate commitments and plans to expand drilling, internal corporate communications released by congressional investigators show.

Details about oil majors contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to top universities to build relationships that could help the industry avoid taking climate action were inside thousands of pages of documents unveiled Tuesday by Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability and the Senate Budget committees.

The oil and gas companies’ pursuit of these partnerships is being exposed at a time of growing pressure on the industry from regulators, investors and student activists concerned about the increasing financial and human toll of hurricanes, wildfires and other climate-related disasters. The industry is also fending off dozens of lawsuits from states and local governments that are seeking compensation for damage linked to rising temperatures.

Taken together, according to a 65-page report, the documents “shed light on how companies condition grants on cooperation from academics and their perception of the relationship’s business value.”

In some instances, the oil industry didn’t have to ask for preferential treatment.

“Affiliation provides timely access to our results as they are developed and well before they are published,” Hillard Huntington, the executive director of Stanford University’s Energy Modeling Forum, wrote in a 2017 letter to an executive at the American Petroleum Institute, the top industry lobby group.

For a $20,000 membership fee, Huntington promised “expeditious access to the Forum’s staff” and “special meetings for affiliates and sponsors focused on policy implications of our work.”

Stanford, in response, said it plans to investigate the arrangement between the Energy Modeling Forum and API.

“It appears to be inconsistent with our policies regarding industrial affiliates programs and openness in research,” spokesperson Mara Vandlik said in an email. “We will be looking into this matter.”

API spokesperson Andrea Woods defended the industry’s close ties to some energy researchers.

“America’s oil and natural gas industry will continue to work with experts and organizations committed to advancing solutions to tackle climate change and ensure continued access to affordable, reliable American energy,” Woods said.

The massive trove of new private correspondence, memos, presentations and talking points from top executives at Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and API will be at the center of a hearing Wednesday morning before the Senate Budget Committee.