Bowing To Oil Pressure?

An environmental group accused the White House of caving to a request from Exxon Mobil that it try to remove a leading expert on global warming as the head of an international climate panel.

American atmospheric scientist Robert Watson is seeking re-election as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it holds its election later this month in Geneva.

But the State Department said Wednesday it would support Rajendra Pachauri, the Indian government's nominee, to become the next chair.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, said the White House's Council on Environmental Quality received a memo from Exxon Mobil in February 2001 that asked, "Can Watson be replaced now at the request of the U.S.?"

The memo, which the group said it obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also recommends that the administration "restructure the U.S. attendance at upcoming IPCC meetings to assure none of the Clinton/Gore proponents are involved in any decisional activities."

Watson has been an outspoken proponent of the idea that fossil fuel emissions contribute to rising global temperatures.

The State Department declined comment on the environmental group's allegations. Exxon Mobil officals did not return a call for comment.

"It's bad enough that Exxon Mobil controls White House energy and climate policies. Now they want to control the science too," said Daniel Lashof, a climate specialist at the environmental group.

The environmental group said the Bush administration's stance undermined Watson's prospects for re-election and would hurt the panel's efforts. It said Watson was the most qualified and experienced candidate to lead the panel, which is composed of hundreds of experts who have been investigating a rise in worldwide temperatures.

More than 100 countries are involved with the panel, and each has a vote on its leader. Another country could nominate Watson to continue as the head, and he could remain on the panel if he was not re-elected.

Watson, also the chief scientist of the World Bank, has led the panel since 1996.

Pachauri is an engineer and an economist and is the director of the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi, India.

By Brad Foss