Peter, I have no stake in Exxon Mobile, so I do not care about their interests - all I am interested in are facts, and the facts point out a reality that is being ignored by the vast majority of environmentalist groups. Also, the oil that Exxon Mobile pumps out of the ground every day goes to great lengths to provide food, clothing and heat for many people across the world. The use of oil and gasoline is one of the very few factors that have contributed to the bettering of mankind.

I do want to make a few additional points though:

1. Global warming is a reality however nobody can prove that it is a result of human activity. Just claiming that global warming is a result of human activity does not make it so.

2. The increase in solar activity is being totally ignored by envionmentalists as a potential cause of global warming, yet scientists admit that it is a significant component. A long term study discussed in this same article shows that the temperatures on Earth are directly connected to changes in the Sun’s output.

3. A recent study published in the Geophysical Research Letters shows a significant cooling of the oceans rather than warming as the enviornmentalists claim. Environmentalist computer models predict a warming of the waters, yet actual observations (not based on models) show the opposite results.

4. Global warming has been only studied for several decades and there is no long-term scientific data or trends to conclude that humans are responsible for it. Again, I ask the question: who/what contributed to the melting of glaciars throughout the midwest United States and the retreat of glacial ice all the way to the arctic circle - which took place thousands of years ago?

5. In his speech at the Washington Center for Complexity and Public Policy, Michael Chrichton exposed the “end of the world” scare tactics of the environmentalist groups, used as fund-raising motivators; he also showed how little effect mankind has on the environment and how insignificant we are in the scheme of things.

6. I also recommend reading his testimony before the U.S. Congress (Committee on Environment and Public Works) in which he points out errors, mistakes and outright lies which appeared in studies done by environmentalists.

5. As a last point, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has put together a fantastic response to Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” - I highly recommend it to anyone interested in both sides of this debate (PDF File) http://www.cei.org/pdf/5478.pdf

God bless!