The Stop Esso campaign today condemned oil giant Esso for the role it played in ousting Dr Bob Watson, the respected British-born head of the UN panel on climate change.
The move in Geneva came at the behest of the Bush administration, which had been pressured by Esso to have Watson removed. Dr Watson, an outspoken advocate for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for six years.
"The hand of the biggest oil company in the world has played its dirtiest card today," said Cindy Baxter Stop Esso campaign co-ordinator. Esso didn't like the science so they changed the scientist. But anyone who cares about our environment can fight back by refusing to buy petrol from Esso. We can't let this company use its corporate muscle to wreck the planet for profit."
Two weeks ago, a US environmental group, the NRDC, released a memo to the White House from Esso's environmental advisor, Arthur 'Randy' Randol. "Can Watson be replaced at the request of the US?" asked Randol, who went on to allege that Watson was pushing his own personal agenda.
The StopEsso campaign is holding a global day of action on May 18th at which hundreds of protests will be held outside Esso garages up and down the UK.
Notes to editors:
The memo was written to the Associate Director of the White House Quality Environment Council, John Howard. Howard was Bush's environmental advisor when he was Governor of Texas and worked closely with ExxonMobil to gut the Texas Clean Air Act.
"So those who say I'm an advocate don't want to hear the message that indeed the earth is warming; that most of the warming of the last 50 years is attributable to human activities; that carbon dioxide is the key human-induced greenhouse gas and that most of it comes from fossil fuels." - Dr Bob Watson
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