A group of journalism students studying at Columbia discovered that the company which now goes under the name Exxon Mobil knew about the dangers of climate change back in the 1980s--and took no appropriate action. These journalism students were not just blowing smoke. Their findings were corroborated, in an entirely separate study, by the publication Inside Climate News.
As it happens, Exxon makes donations to Columbia, and the corporation is now bullying the students who wrote the report and threatening to withdraw financial support. In a letter to Columbia's president, Exxon accuses the investigating students of "cherry picking" and "distorting" facts--even though the Los Angeles Times thought the research was sound enough to publish in the pages of the Times. Please join with me in asking Exxon's Vice president of Public and Government Affairs Kenneth Cohen to stop bullying Columbia's journalism students.
