Fossil fuel companies are skewing university research

Despite progress made in terms of the disinvestment of university endowment funds from fossil fuels, many universities continue to allow oil and gas giants to sponsor research and educational programmes tied to climate science and energy policy, write Abby Saks and Phoebe Barr for StudentNation.

A report released this month by Data for Progress and Fossil Free Research showed the extent of this influence, tracking donations at over two dozen schools. Between 2003 and 2022, top fossil fuel companies donated at least US$20 million to Harvard University alone. “Many of the nation’s most prominent universities, including Harvard, MIT and George Washington, are awash with fossil fuel funding, and scientists are ringing the alarm about the effects this money has on climate research,” the report notes.

Research from Columbia University has found that when research centres take money from fossil fuel companies, they produce results that are disproportionately favourable towards the industry. Chevron, BP and Shell sponsor the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements and the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Shell also sponsors discussions and programming regarding natural gas at Harvard and Exxon and Chevron sponsor the school’s Corporate Responsibility Initiative.
Full report on The Nation site