Controvercy

From about 1990 onward, American conservative think tanks had begun challenging the legitimacy of global warming as a social problem. They challenged the scientific evidence, argued that global warming would have benefits, warned that concern for global warming was some kind of socialist plot to undermine American capitalism,^[263] and asserted that proposed solutions would do more harm than good.^[264] Organizations such as the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, as well as conservative commentators, have challenged IPCC climate change scenarios, funded scientists who disagree with the scientific consensus, and provided their own projections of the economic cost of stricter controls.^[265]

Global warming has been the subject of controversy, substantially more pronounced in the popular media than in the scientific literature,^[266] with disputes regarding the nature, causes, and consequences of global warming. The disputed issues include the causes of increased global average air temperature, especially since the mid-20th century, whether this warming trend is unprecedented or within normal climatic variations, whether humankind has contributed significantly to it, and whether the increase is completely or partially an artifact of poor measurements. Additional disputes concern estimates of climate sensitivity, predictions of additional warming, what the consequences of global warming will be, and what to do about it.^[267]

In the 20th century and early 2000s some companies, such as ExxonMobil, challenged IPCC climate change scenarios, funded scientists who disagreed with the scientific consensus, and provided their own projections of the economic cost of stricter controls.^[268] In general, since the 2010s, global oil companies do not dispute that climate change exists and is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.^[269] As of 2019, however, some are lobbying against a carbon tax and plan to increase production of oil and gas,^[270] but others are in favour of a carbon tax in exchange for immunity from lawsuits which seek climate change compensation.^[271]