A new study says it traces two-thirds of industrial emissions from fossil fuels burned over the last 150 years to just 90 entities – many of these the oil and gas companies that extracted the fossil fuels in the first place. A press release accompanying the study suggests that these companies bear the responsibility for climate change-inducing emissions.

“Many people argue that ‘we are all responsible for climate change.’ But this research shows that’s a misleading statement, because some of us have used and profited from fossil fuels much more than others,” said Harvard science historian Naomi Oreskes, according to the release.

This is questionable logic for a few reasons, not least of which are that profiting from something and being responsible for it are not the same thing, and that much of the extraction in question took place well before climate change was a concern. But it manages to place blame squarely on entities that people love to hate – big oil companies.

Elias Hinckley, a partner with law firm Sullivan and Worcester and contributor to Breaking Energy, suggested that the study proponents might be overlooking some responsible parties.

 

The Onion seems to think so, too.

“In a landmark report experts say fundamentally reshapes our understanding of the global warming crisis, new data published this week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that the phenomenon is caused primarily by the actions of 7 billion key individuals,” the satirical website wrote in an article published today.