Big Oil’s Dark Secret: The 1977 Marathon Oil Article Predicting Climate Catastrophes

Nearly half a century ago, a company magazine article quoted scientists saying that the climate will get “only worse” – so how was this information hidden?

They Said What?

Today, many of us agree that climate change is bad. But apparently, that knowledge was already discovered almost 50 years ago.

According to a Marathon Oil Company magazine article from 1977, there were already predictions that the industrial activity causes a warmer climate that could one day result in “widespread starvation and other social and economic calamities.”

What Magazine?

The article “World Weather Watch” was featured in the company magazine Marathon World. In it, the anonymous author claims that “industrial expansion during the last century may be affecting the weather through carbon dioxide pollution” after examining the work of federal climate scientists.

They Knew?

Previously published by Marathon Oil Company, which later became Marathon Petroleum and Marathon Oil, the magazine article states, “Although climatologists disagree on the underlying reasons, many see a future climate of greater variability, bringing with it areas of extreme drought.”

Search and You Shall Find

Guardian contributor and investigative journalist Geoff Dembicki uncovered the 1977 piece. Dembicki, who also wrote the 2022 book ‘The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change’, says the article isn’t available online and that he discovered it in an archive.

Not Very Popular

Big Oil (a media term describing the world’s biggest, most influential publicly traded oil and natural gas companies like Chevron, Shell…, etc.) is currently involved in various lawsuits for hiding its knowledge about climate change, spreading false information, and delaying a green transition.

Speaking of Lawsuits

The Hawaiian city of Honolulu is actively suing Marathon Petroleum (along with several oil- and gas companies including Exxon and BP).

The case, entitled ‘City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco et al.’, alleges that the entity was involved in communications aiming “to conceal and deny their own knowledge” of disastrous climate impacts caused by the burning of their products.

Playing Innocent

The lawsuit claims that Marathon was aware of the risks associated with global warming well before the public, thanks to its affiliation with the American Petroleum Institute, which has been researching the connection between fossil fuels and global warming for decades.

Not Surprisingly

Marathon and other companies involved in the lawsuit are currently seeking the US Supreme Court’s intervention to dismiss the case.

Those Were Warnings

The 1977 article quotes J Murray Mitchell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): “The climate is not going to get better, only worse. Over the long haul, we are going to have to brace ourselves for the prospect of a lot of poor harvests.”

Happening Today

Mitchell is also a federal US government scientist who, back in the 1970s already, warned that industrial carbon dioxide emissions could be responsible for melting the polar ice caps and pose a risk to human civilization.

Selfish, Not Ignorant

Research by Mitchell and other climate scientists was cited in the article, indicating that “industrial expansion during the last century may be affecting the weather through carbon dioxide pollution”.

The article also hints at possible consequences for the company due to a more severe climate.

Who Else Knew?

It’s not clear how extensively the article was circulated within the company.

However, it does name senior Marathon Oil figures, including James H Brannigan, then vice president for corporate planning and assistant to the president, who states that the oil industry uses weather prediction techniques to calculate fuel demand for consumers.

So on Brand for Them

On Wednesday, fossil fuel observers indicated that the 1977 exposé is in line with Big Oil’s early knowledge of global warming.

Speaking to The Guardian, Bryant Sewell, a research analyst at the corporate watchdog Majority Action, said: “I’m not surprised that Marathon would have documents that shed light on its awareness.

Continuous Lying

“Whether it’s Marathon, Exxon, or electric utilities, we have seen a longstanding strategy from these companies of climate denial, disinformation, and delay,” Sewell added.

Who Cares About People?

“Pestilence, starvation, drought,” was Timmons Roberts, a climate disinformation expert based at Brown University, ‘s reaction upon reading the 1977 piece.

“To know one’s product may bring that about, and bury the evidence, is unspeakable,” Roberts said.

The Signs Were There

Among other statements, the Marathon World article also says: “No matter the reason for climate changes, the economic impact can be tremendous.”

The piece also mentions scientific research proposing that “the circulation patterns of the atmosphere have changed, keeping summer monsoons away from regions such as the Sahel in Africa, currently an area suffering extreme drought.”

Very Powerful

Marathon Petroleum, currently merging with rival ConocoPhillips, operates the US’s biggest refining system. It oversees 13 oil refineries and more than 6,000 gas stations throughout the country.

In 2023, its net income was close to $10 billion.

Passing the Buck?

Thus far, the company has managed to mostly avoid the historical scrutiny aimed at companies such as Exxon and Shell, who back in the 1970s were already privately studying chaotic climate risks before leading public relations and advertising campaigns to attack scientific findings.

Timing is Everything

The timing of the 1977 article is also interesting, as it came out during a year of tumultuous weather where a record-cold winter was followed by a boiling-hot summer.

Researchers actually debated the causes and implications of these extremes in scientific journals.

The Public Opinion

As per a Data for Progress poll from May, most Americans support legal accountability for Bil Oil and its part in creating the climate crisis.

In addition, about 50% of US citizens agree on laying criminal charges.

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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Jonathan Weiss.