Frequently Asked Questions

The Union of Concerned Scientists explains its analysis of 28 S&P 500 companies, finding that half misrepresented climate science in public communications despite expressing general concern about climate change. The document highlights the contradiction between corporate public images and their indirect actions, such as funding anti-climate science members of Congress or trade groups. It argues that current disclosure requirements are insufficient to hold corporations accountable for their influence on national and state-level climate policy, including efforts to undercut wind energy and roll back renewable energy laws.

• Half of the 28 companies analyzed misrepresented climate science in at least one public venue, often by overemphasizing uncertainties or making false claims, despite all companies in the sample expressing concern about climate change and its impacts.
• Many companies exhibit contradictory behavior by publicly supporting climate concerns while indirectly undermining climate science through political activity, funding to trade groups, and donations to think tanks.
• The analysis identifies corporate efforts to influence policy at the state level, specifically by attempting to roll back renewable energy laws and reduce public support for wind energy.
• The lack of transparency in corporate political spending makes it difficult to comprehensively analyze corporate influence on climate discourse, suggesting that the actual influence of these companies is likely greater than what limited available data shows.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2012). Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/corporate-climate-faq.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Frequently Asked Questions. 2012. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/corporate-climate-faq.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Frequently Asked Questions |date=30 May 2012 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/corporate-climate-faq.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2012frequently, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Frequently Asked Questions}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2012}, month = may, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/corporate-climate-faq.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }