A think tank partly funded by Exxon Mobil offered $10,000 to U.S. scientists if they would criticize a major global-warming study's findings, a report says.
The U.N. study, released Friday, said for the first time global warming was "unequivocal" and likely caused by burning fossil fuels.
The American Enterprise Institute sent letters offering scientists $10,000, plus travel and other expenses, to highlight the shortcomings in the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change study, CNN reports.
The memo asked scientists to "highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the IPCC process, especially as it bears on potential policy responses to climate change," CNN said.
The intent of the letter seemed to be to criticize the United Nations report in the eyes of the public, outside the normal review process for scientific work, the Bulldog Reporter public-relations newsletter said Tuesday.
AEI said Exxon accounted for less than 1 percent of the think tank's annual budget. It also said a $10,000 payment for scientific work was not unusual.
But Don Wuebbles, an atmospheric-sciences professor at the University of Illinois, said: "To me this is really amazing. You never get offered that kind of money. Even if groups ask you to write things, they don't try to give you the answer beforehand."
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