Report: Oil Companies Conducted Coordinated Climate Disinformation Campaign

Congressional investigators have uncovered extensive evidence that major oil companies deliberately misled the public about climate change while working to prevent meaningful action on reducing emissions, according to a joint report released Tuesday.

The investigation, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, reveals how fossil fuel companies evolved their strategies from outright climate science denial to more sophisticated forms of misinformation.

“The evidence uncovered by Oversight Committee Democrats shows that Big Oil has run campaigns to confuse and mislead the public while working unceasingly to lock down a fossil fuel future,” said Rep. Raskin, who characterized the climate crisis as “a civilizational emergency.”

Sen. Whitehouse added that despite understanding the climate impacts of their products for decades, the fossil fuel industry “has deceived the American public to keep collecting more than $600 billion each year in subsidies while raking in record-breaking profits.”

The report, titled “Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil’s Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change,” represents the culmination of a multi-year investigation that began under former Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney in 2021.

Internal documents obtained by investigators show that major oil companies like ExxonMobil privately acknowledged the accuracy of reporting that revealed they had known about climate change for more than 60 years. A December 2015 email from an Exxon communications advisor admitted the company didn’t “actually… dispute much of what these stories report,” despite publicly criticizing journalists for “journalistic malpractice.”

The investigation found that as outright climate denial became untenable, companies shifted to portraying natural gas as a climate-friendly “bridge fuel” or even a safe “destination fuel.” A 2017 BP America email described “promoting and protecting the role of gas” as “a paramount priority,” while internal documents acknowledged that lifecycle emissions from natural gas can be as harmful as coal.

The report also details how companies made public commitments to support climate initiatives like the Paris Agreement while privately working against them. For example, Chevron publicly called the Paris Agreement “a good first step” in 2016, but internal documents suggest the company quickly changed its position to align with the Trump administration’s climate policies.

Similarly, BP publicly opposed the Trump administration’s rollback of methane regulations in 2020, but a 2019 internal email revealed a BP executive stating that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s plan for rolling back the regulations was “aligned with our thinking.”

The investigation found that fossil fuel companies rely heavily on trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to spread misleading narratives and lobby against climate action. These organizations allow companies to maintain public climate commitments while working against climate policies behind the scenes.

Companies also strategically partner with academic institutions to enhance their credibility and shape research. Documents show how Shell embedded scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, while BP reduced funding to Harvard and Tufts after determining those partnerships didn’t provide enough “value” to the company.

Despite valid congressional subpoenas, all six entities investigated—ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, the American Petroleum Institute, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—”obstructed and delayed the Committees’ investigation,” according to the report. The companies redacted or withheld more than 4,000 documents, with the Chamber producing only 24 documents responsive to its subpoena.

The investigation began with the first congressional hearing on climate denialism in October 2019, followed by document requests to top fossil fuel executives in September 2021. After companies failed to produce requested materials, the committee issued subpoenas in November 2021.

The report represents the most comprehensive congressional investigation to date into how the fossil fuel industry has worked to prevent meaningful climate action despite decades of internal knowledge about the risks posed by their products.