Oil money lubricating anti-science

Further to the short entertaining cartoon video satirising Exxon-Mobil's anti-science denial of climate change and global warming that i previously linked to , The Independent is reporting that data collated by a Brussels-based watchdog reveals that ExxonMobil has put money into projects that criticise the Kyoto treaty and question the findings of scientific groups is trying to influence opinion-makers in Brussels because Europe - rather than the US - is the driving force for action on climate change.
It has long been known that the oil giant has spent millions of dollars to fund climate sceptics. Exactly how much is unknown but some estimates suggest $19m (£9.7m) since 1998.
In its 2005 report, Corporate Europe Observatory details payments by ExxonMobil to two organisations the International Policy Network, which received $130,000 and the Centre for the New Europe (CNE), which received $50,000. The two groups have long been accused of denying climate change.
Earlier this year the Royal Society, considered Britain's leading scientific academy, wrote to ExxonMobil asking that it stop funding groups that have "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".