They've been lying for decades

 

An article from the UK media outlet (used to be a newspaper, I think) The Guardian.

‘What we now know … they lied’: how big oil companies betrayed us all

The articles notes that there's a "docuseries" about this entire episode/campaign/travesty, from PBS, entitled The Power of Big Oil, which is available online.  I'll have to carve out some time to watch that.  The three parts are entitled "Denial", "Doubt", and "Delay".    (No, those aren't the names of congresspersons from Texas.  Well, one of them actually was.)

Here's an excerpt from the Guardian article.

"Former senator Timothy Wirth tells the documentary-makers how in 1988 he organised historic hearings at which a distinguished Nasa scientist, James Hansen, testified that greenhouse gases were changing the climate.

“That was a kind of a magic sentence,” Wirth said. “This was not environmental groups. This was not some green cabal. This was probably the lead climate scientist in the federal government making this statement.”

The New York Times reported the testimony on its front page. It seemed a turning point to Wirth and Hansen. Now the country would have to face reality. Instead the hearing served as a warning to the oil industry to intensify its campaign of denialism."

And it's been quite successful.  One of its side effects was to reduce the perceived need for reliable alternate energy sources, one of which would be nuclear energy.  There's still time, but it's a lot later than it should be.