This is my first blog of the new year, since I've been on vacation. I heard today about how Exxon-Mobil has been spending $16 million to discredit global warming. It apparently has been funding groups that try to stir up a debate over global warming that doesn't exist, including putting a spin on established facts to make them look less certain than they are. The tactic has been deemed similar to that taken in the past by tobacco companies as to the health effects of smoking.

After hearing about this, I realized why it can be so hard to get through to certain people about the reality and seriousness of global warming. If you have an oil company funneling money into a campaign to cast doubt on global warming, many members of the public will come to believe that there is a true debate. It is sad when a manufactured debate takes the shape of a true debate. It is also disheartening when a company that relies so heavily on fossil fuels can make the world believe that fossil fuels are not one of the causes of global climate change problems. If Exxon-Mobil wants to question global warming, then its company officials should have an open, candid discussion with the renowned scientists that have researched the issue. Instead of taking this approach, it has resorted to underhanded and rather sneaky methods of trying to divert the public's attention from this pivotal issue. I hope the naysayers as to global warming will finally see the "debate" for what it truly is--a fallacy. Just as we all know that smoking causes cancer and other serious health problems, global warming and climate change are real and not simply speculative theories.