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OK, now we’ve seen everything. Philip A. Cooney, the White House staffer who last week got busted for “revising” government scientific reports to minimize the link between human activity and global warming, is going to work for … ExxonMobil!

Just posted at the New York Times:

An Exxon spokesman, Tom Cirigliano, declined to describe Mr. Cooney’s new job. Associates of Mr. Cooney said he planned to move to Dallas. Mr. Cooney did not return e-mail or phone messages.ExxonMobil has long financed advertising and lobbying efforts that question whether human-caused warming poses sufficiently serious risks to justify curbing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitted by smokestacks and tailpipes.

Today, Mr. Cirigliano said the oil company was committed to acting responsibly on the issue. …

Some climate scientists and environmental campaigners said Mr. Cooney’s quick shift from the White House to Exxon was evidence of a near-seamless relationship between the Bush administration and the oil industry.

“Perhaps he won’t even notice he has changed jobs,” said David G. Hawkins, who directs the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private environmental group.

No matter how cynical you get, you just can’t keep up with these guys.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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