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Internal files add to evidence of an ExxonMobil climate deception campaign

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Briefings

Internal ExxonMobil documents released in 2023 reveal that Frank Sprow, a corporate research scientist, warned colleagues in 1988 that widespread climate action would harm the company. This memo, part of a larger batch of undisclosed files, was quoted in a 2023 Wall Street Journal article but remains unpublished. The evidence suggests ExxonMobil may have concealed this warning to protect its business interests during a period of intense climate activism. The lawsuit against the company began in 2019, and these documents were made public as part of that legal effort. Specific details about the full content of the memo are still missing, though the existence of the warning is confirmed.

Key points

• In June 1988, NASA climatologist James Hansen testified to Congress that global warming was occurring and would persist as long as humans continued to emit fossil fuels.
• Just weeks after the UN established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Frank Sprow of ExxonMobil's corporate research department sent an internal memo warning that a global consensus on climate action would negatively impact the company.

Context and limitations

The full text of Sprow's 1988 memo is not published, and the specific details of the lawsuit timeline and other related documents remain partially undisclosed.

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