[Vision2020] The Bush/Industry revolving door

[Mark Solomon]

Have these people no shame? Bad enough the way Cooney changed 
documents at will to disguise the global warming issue but check out 
the White House spokesperson quote!

Mark Solomon
*********

New York Times
June 15, 2005

Ex-Bush Aide Who Edited Climate Reports to Join ExxonMobil

  By ANDREW C. REVKIN


Philip A. Cooney, the White House staff member who repeatedly revised 
government scientific reports on global warming, will go to work for 
ExxonMobil in the fall, the oil company said today.

Mr. Cooney resigned on Friday as chief of staff to President Bush's 
environmental policy council, two days after documents obtained by 
The New York Times showed that he had edited the reports in ways that 
cast doubt on the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and rising 
temperatures.

  A former lawyer and lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, 
the main lobbying group for the oil industry, Mr. Cooney has no 
scientific training.

  The White House, which said Friday that there was no connection 
between last week's disclosure and Mr. Cooney's resignation, repeated 
today that Mr. Cooney's actions were part of the normal review 
process for documents on environmental issues involving many 
government agencies.

"Phil Cooney did a great job," said Dana Perino, a deputy White House 
spokeswoman, "and we appreciate his public service and the work that 
he did, and we wish him well in the private sector."

An Exxon spokesman, Tom Cirigliano, declined to describe Mr. Cooney's 
new job. Associates of Mr. Cooney said he planned to move to Dallas. 
Mr. Cooney did not return e-mail or phone messages.ExxonMobil has 
long financed advertising and lobbying efforts that question whether 
human-caused warming poses sufficiently serious risks to justify 
curbing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by 
smokestacks and tailpipes.

Today, Mr. Cirigliano said the oil company was committed to acting 
responsibly on the issue.

"ExxonMobil has taken, is taking, and will continue to take tangible 
actions to reduce emissions in our operations as well as in customer 
use of our products, and to better understand and prepare for the 
risks of climate change," he said.

Some climate scientists and environmental campaigners said Mr. 
Cooney's quick shift from the White House to Exxon was evidence of a 
near-seamless relationship between the Bush administration and the 
oil industry.

"Perhaps he won't even notice he has changed jobs," said David G. 
Hawkins, who directs the climate center at the Natural Resources 
Defense Council, a private environmental group.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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