The growing concern for global warming has been a great challenge for many businesses with relatively large carbon footprints. Some businesses attempt to reduce its carbon footprint, others, such as Talisman Energy Inc. took a different approach to resolve the issue at hand. In 2004, Alberta-based oil and gas company Talisman Energy Inc. made a $507,975 contribution toward the production of a video with the sole purpose of undermining the scientific evidence behind man-made global warming, making the company the single largest contributor to the project. The project is headed by the University of Calgary. In return, the company received a tax receipt for it’s “charitable” donation. The campaign was eventually shut down for alleged partisan activities. The main ethical issue behind this rather clever public relations strategy, as stated by a campaigner for the Greenpeace Canda, is that “This was never about science. This was about implementing a strategy […] to cast doubt on the science so government wouldn’t force polluters to clean up their act.” The more-than-generous donation cast a cloud of deception over its true purpose while making it look like a simple act of support for a scientific cause. But in reality, the company invested the entirety of the donation in a marketing campaign designed to justify the company’s own business ideals and to draw more demand for what the company has to offer by lobbying against the Kyoto Protocol and other related government policies. Some may even argue that this is simply a tax-deductible channel for the company to impose its own propaganda.
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