This is a little misleading. A lot of corporations fund research so they can skewe results in their favor so they pay a lot in the US. Big oil knew about climate change long before it was an issue, but the corporations buried it. Big Tobacco knew cigarettes were unhealthy, they spent a lot of money to bury it. Aaron Swarts did a lot of research on this sort of thing and it eventually cost him his life, which is unfortunate because he is possibly the greatest mind of the 21st century.