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4"

High Priest of the Carbon Club

(roughxranslarion of eucerpts from Der Spiegel, 1-V199 S)

Donald 9. Pearlman is m a g history on behalf of the oil ind'utry,
on the tab of America's most influential law firm. Successful as no
other lobbyist in international policy, he directs his worldwide
,climate network - always to block ,

Since last Tuesday, punctually at 9:30 each morning, he lurks at rhe
entrance of the plenary room in Berlin, waiting for delegates to pass
by. "Hi Don," he is happily saluted and hugged by \he Kuwaiti
delegate Atif Al-JuW. Hastily, Pearlman gives his protege, in a
low voice, IWday's orders, "We absolutely need someone on the
Bureau," Akfuwaili nods. A few hours later, the Kuwaiti delegates
will energetically demand a sear on the future UN Bureau, which
oversees the implementation of the Climate Convention.

Donald Rearlrnan smiles. He has worked h a d for three yesirs iu
ensure that climate protection negociacions end in the never-neverland of vague declaxations. He has not missed a single one of the
over twenty scientific and political conferences leading up to Berlin.
Hardly anyone is as farnibax as he is with the more than 1000 UN.
documents.
Pearlman, the tuord's traveler, is not a simple lobbyist, as is his
permanent accomplice, John Schlaes, who very openly represents
the American auto and electronics industry in fighting against any
binding climate change requirements. Pearlman keeps rhe names
of his clients strictly secret. He performs only as partlier of the big
law firm Patton Boggq and Blow, which in Washingron is laown to
be as influen~ala s it is shady.
1

The law firm was connected with t h e Haitian dictator Duvalier as
weli as with the Guatemalan military regime. Its lawyers worked
for ECCI, the drug- and moneylaundering bank, whose collapse has
been called "die mother of all scandals," aid which has beeii in the
American press for months.
A former employee comments, "the biggest compliment you can
give m y lawyer from Patton i s IhaL he'll du anylhing ffx money."
Clients are ~ O irritared
K
by the dubious repmation of the "cliancery."
~ r n o n g rhe firm's IS00 permanent clients are chemical
rnultinarionals such as duPont and t h e rhree oil giants, tZxxc)n,
Teuaco and Shell.

I

 Pearlma1 thinks of these clients when he warns agafnst "the drastic
damage of rushed commitments to reduce energy consump tion"
threatening America's i n d u s r - "Compared to small Japan or
Europe, we simply need more energy for transport, hwring and
cooling." Pearlman sees himself as rhe preserver of the American
way of We and identifies llimself Closely with the US esrablishmknr
America's wealth is based on the 03 industry, so char. is the way- it
should stay.

P

*

.

Fur rllis goal Pearlman pulls out'all the tricks. In order to be
allowed in the UN negotiations, he founded the non-governmental
organizarion The C h a t e Council, a name which could apply to any
organization. "\

I

The permanent iask of his crew i s to watch over U.S, diplomars.
"Every word we state publicly here appears on rhe desk of
member3 of Congress the next day. These people create an
atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion,"complains a climate expert
in the US delegation about Pearlman and his helpers. Even the US
delegation Ieader? Rafe Pomerance, does not dare to cornmcnt in
Berlin about the request for a legally binding climate commitmenr
put forward by Vice-President Al Gore.
:a.:c:/;

"No one is as successful as this high priest of thecJimst6 club," said
Jeremy Leggerr; a Director of Greenpeace International.

,The biggest problem for the oil alliance stems from rhe findings of
International climatologists. The overwhelming majority nf
scientists have no doubts ahout: the approaching danger for the
pZanet In the framework of the UN, scientists are organized in the
Intergovernmental Panel on. ClimaE Change, which produces a n n d
reports to be used as the basis for the political proceedings.
To undermine t h e credibiliv of scientisrs, Pealman systernaticd\r
uses representatives oE the Gulf States at IPCC meetings. ih
September 1994 in Geneva. duriug the decisive meeting (fQrthe
1994 I R K Report), Pearlma and his Arabic friends brought chaos
upon this international gathering of experts. " W e onl~rwrote down
undisputed sracements," reports rhe Dutch climatologist: Joseph
Alcamo. Rut the Pearlmm alliance, as Alcama angrily recounts,
''questioned every single line of the Report," and engaged in
"endless hair-splitting."
the lawyer turned himself into an expert.
Representatives from Kuwait submitted proposals to change the
original tesr - in Pearlman's handwiring. Nor even the' sentence

Mzgically,

.i

 mat "an increasc of carbon dioxide is expected iq the apnosphere:' ,
went through. 'Triumphantl.~,Pearhan amounces "There is no.
s c i e n ~ kconsensus" on rihe threat IO the climate, even the IpCC is
debamg the issue.
I
"

.

Againsr. the climate warner's the coal fundamenralists also engage
their own scientists, for example, From the U.S. weather service
Accu-Weather. Atcording to their findings, formulated on the basis
of data from only rhree measuring pqinrs in the USA, "there is no
overwhelming proof chat estremc weather' events are -occurring."
Therefore i t remains .open for Pearlman's middlemen wliether
humans have any role in increasing the greenhouse effect.
Embarrassingly for the anti-climate-coalition, h e i r rainfall. data
were based on measuremenu only from the desert city of 10s
.\ageles.
"With such disinformadon," says Vice-President of Washington's
Worldwatch Institute Christopher Flavin, "the IIS cil lobby dictates
the public debate."

The rnm with the bulldog face pushed even further during rhe last
political preparazory meeting in February in' New York. In a
stressful.night session, with his pushy style, Pearlman provoked an
uprising. UN official .Jacob Swager angrily requested all lobbyists LO
leave the plenary, bur: still Pearlman resisted. "Heonly left after I
warned him several. times,'' says $wager. This scene is "freely
inyented," says Pexlrnan roday.

Environmenxalisw observed how Pearlman Lransmi tted precise
tactical mnsCructi0ns to Arabic delegations. ("Cornplerely strike the
fourth tiret; if Oprion I not successful, suggest zhe following
€ormuiarion!"1
+

The oil-producing counrries have iissured tliemselves the trump
card in the poker g a e negoriarions vis-a-vis the weak resistance
of the Europeans and the Americans. ;Due to their driving force,
decisions on voting procedures remain unresolved this weekend.

Pearlman says he "has nothing to do" with these tricks. Pearlman
says, however, char i T is cerwnly "in t h e interest o f the US if
decisions a r e allvwed to be raken ouly by consensus."
Through his Berlin s u a c q y , the oil lawyer has nearly already won .
indus&dly sustainable climate prorection.