Report: Fossil fuel firms spent millions funding U.S. university research to gain credibility and influence in academia.
found that reports from universities receiving funding from the natural gas industry are more likely to be favorable toward natural gas, while universities less dependent on fossil fuel funding were more favorable toward renewable energies.
“Universities occupy a unique role in the global economy as owners of massive amounts of intellectual and physical capital: the financialization of education has reduced the university to a place of business and the student to a worker. Their ability to direct labor toward a particular cause and redefine issues is unmatched by any other group,” the report says.
Allowing fossil fuel corporations to control part of research narratives at universities can compromise critical players in the fight against the climate crisis, the report continues. “University research partnerships with fossil fuel companies play a key role in bolstering these companies’ reputations,” it says.
Climate advocates say it is time for universities to stop accepting fossil fuel funding for research that is related to their products and the climate.led by Fossil-Free Research and signed by over 800 academics and climate experts, including Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors, the signatories say that there is an “inherent conflict of interest” in this practice and that it “compromises” the integrity of research and academic freedom.
“We know that many of our colleagues who choose to accept fossil fuel funding strive to produce honest and independent research, often faced with few alternative funding pathways. However, the risk of skewed outcomes is endemic when research funding is dominated by companies with agendas that are in conflict with the goals of the funded research,” the letter says.
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