"Researchers found donations are part of a strategy by the industry to embed itself in universities to influence research and gain credibility"
"For decades, oil and gas companies have donated tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to colleges and universities, sat on governing boards, sponsored scholarships and built pro-fossil fuel programming and curriculum — resulting in real or apparent conflicts of interest for universities and their researchers.
“Fossil fuel companies have embedded themselves in universities across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and beyond,” according to the research paper published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal WIREs Climate Change. "Archival documents show that the fossil fuel industry deliberately uses university partnerships to further its own interests.”
The new review by researchers from the United States, Canada and Ireland finds just a handful of studies that document the influence of the powerful industry on academia — a dynamic they believe requires much closer scrutiny.
The findings come at a time when experts and governments across the globe agree that sharply reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing reliance on renewable energy are crucial to stalling or reversing climate change."
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