Message From the Editor

We’ve seen another full week at DeSmog, with multiple editors in New York City for New York Climate Week where attention was called to the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis. Investigative reporter Dana Drugmand published a piece on Havas, a global communications group, winning the bid for Shell’s media account.

The competition for the Shell account occurred against a backdrop of accusations that advertising and public relations agencies are helping oil majors stall climate action by creating an exaggerated impression of their investments in clean energy technologies.

This is a big step backwards for a company that had appeared to be moving away from fossil clients, according to the campaign group Clean Creatives who recently published its annual “F-List” documenting ties between advertising agencies and fossil fuel companies.

The report revealed that global advertising and public relations company WPP has more contracts with fossil fuel clients than any of its rivals, despite the group’s pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2030.

WPP topped the “F-List” with 55 fossil fuel contracts; Omnicom followed with 39 contracts; Interpublic Group had 25; and Publicis Groupe had 11. These four companies dominate the communications industry; owning hundreds of subsidiaries around the world, and generating combined revenues of $56 billion in 2022.

“This is a turning point for the industry — communications agencies who work for oil and gas clients are knowingly accelerating the global climate emergency, and their legal risks will accelerate, too,” said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives.

Speaking of legal risks, in a new article we break down why California is taking big oil to court and why it matters.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against five oil and gas majors including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips as well as their chief lobby group the American Petroleum Institute. More than three dozen states and cities are suing oil, gas, and coal companies over their role in causing climate change. But California is the first fossil-fuel-producing state to do so.

This may signal that fossil fuel companies do not have much of a future powering the state’s economy.

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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

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Image credit: Zach Roberts

Havas Wins Shell Advertising Contract, Drawing Fire from Climate Campaigners

— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —

Global communications group Havas has won a bidding war for Shell’s media account, drawing criticism from campaigners who accuse advertising agencies of shielding oil majors from pressure to slash emissions.

Shell invited pitches for its advertising account, handled for the past 18 years by UK-based WPP, in June, prompting speculation in the creative industry over who would win the lucrative contract.

California Joins States Suing Big Oil for Its Role in the Climate Crisis

— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —

The state of California has jumped into the ring in the fight to hold some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers accountable for their role in driving the worsening climate crisis. On Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against five oil and gas majors including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips as well as their chief lobby group the American Petroleum Institute.

The lawsuit alleges these entities deliberately deceived the public about the dangers of fossil fuels and their impact on the climate system, and effectively engineered a delayed societal response to addressing the climate problem.

In West Virginia, Plan to Clean up Radioactive Fracking Waste Ends in Monster Lawsuit

— By Justin Nobel (23 min. read) —

In rural West Virginia, largely hidden among steep hills, stands a $255 million facility designed to transform fracking waste into freshwater and food grade quality salts. Proponents hailed it as one of the most important environmental projects undertaken by the oil and gas industry in recent U.S. history.

But local conservation groups and residents remained skeptical from the start, warning that the plant could leak toxic waste into water and air, harming human health and ecosystems in a largely forested region where tight-knit communities live close to the land. 

Tens of Thousands March to the UN, Declaring a Climate Emergency

— By Dana Drugmand and Zach D. Roberts (5 min. read) —

Climate activists marched in New York City on Sunday to demand that world leaders curb new oil and gas drilling. 

The March to End Fossil Fuels was the first major climate march since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It brought tens of thousands, young and old, from as far away as Alaska and the Global South, to the streets of Midtown Manhattan.

A Guide to Six Greenwashing Terms Big Ag Is Bringing to COP28

— By Rachel Sherrington and Hazel Healy (11 min. read) —

Agriculture, which is responsible for over one third of the world’s emissions, will be under the spotlight at the upcoming COP28 global climate summit in Dubai.

In the wake of blazing heat, rising food insecurity and devastating floods, COP28 leaders have released a four-point “food and agriculture” agenda for the conference, which will call for governments to work with industry to find new solutions.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich to “formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” The Heritage Foundation has been a fervent opponent of the Kyoto Protocol and its online database of “policy experts” includes many climate change skeptics such as Patrick Michaels, Sallie Baliunas, Thomas Gale Moore, Robert Balling, and Fred Singer. Thomas A. Roe, a member of the board of trustees of the Heritage Foundation, founded the State Policy Network in 1991 as a way to promote conservative policies at the state level.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.