The report by the advocacy group mirrors a similar report by Britain's leading scientific academy. Last September, The Royal Society wrote the oil company asking it to halt support for groups that "misrepresented the science of climate change."

    Exxon Mobil struck back, labeling the scientists' report "yet another attempt to smear our name and confuse the discussion of the serious issue of CO2 emissions and global climate change."

    Many scientists say carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from tailpipes and smokestacks are warming the atmosphere like a greenhouse, melting Arctic and Antarctic sea ice and alpine glaciers and disrupting the environment of animals and plants.

    Exxon Mobil lists on its website nearly 133 million dollars in 2005 contributions globally, including 6.8 million dollars for "public information and policy research" distributed to more than 140 think tanks, universities, foundations, associations and other groups.

    Some of those have publicly disputed any link between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

    Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists' strategy and policy director, said in a teleconference that Exxon Mobil is using the same tactics as tobacco companies, creating uncertainty by misrepresenting peer-reviewed scientific studies or emphasizing only selected facts.

    Dr. James McCarthy, a professor at Harvard University, said the company has sought to "create the illusion of a vigorous debate" about global warming.

    An Exxon Mobil spokesman said financial support does not signify control over any group's findings.

    "We find some of them persuasive and enlightening, and some not," Gardner said. "But there is value
in the debate they prompt if it can lead to better informed and more optimal public policy decisions."

    He said the company believes that despite many scientific uncertainties, the risk that greenhouse gas emissions may have serious environmental effects justifies taking action to limit them.

    (Agencies)