Exxon Mobil, Esso’s parent company, is the largest oil company in the world. At the end of last month it reported the record breaking profit of £18 billion made in the past year. Here’s another fact- the burning of oil as a fuel accounts for 23 % of all global greenhouse gas emissions. In the light of these facts, why has Esso run advertising campaigns in the US which are highly critical of the Kyoto agreement? Why also have they funded think-tanks with around $12 million who have questioned the authenticity of climate change?The answers soon begin to emerge when Esso’s political affiliations are exposed. Esso gave $1.3 million to the Republican Party’s election campaign in 2000. Subsequently when George W. Bush became president he unsurprisingly pulled the US out of the Kyoto Agreement which is adhered to by 157 other countries. The Kyoto Protocol is aimed at countries reducing their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases. With the United states pulling out of this agreement, environmental activists have called this a catastrophic event as The US is responsible for 25% of all the worlds carbon dioxide, yet their citizens only make up 4% of the worlds…