Message From the Editor

Oil and gas companies regularly try to influence public opinion to obstruct climate action – an urgent issue we expose on a regular basis. Now, a new study confirms another way the fossil fuel industry wields its clout: by using money to influence research at universities around the world to produce dubious science that makes us think climate change isn’t happening.

“The industry has been getting away with very little scrutiny when it comes to its infiltration of academia,” one of the co-authors of the paper told DeSmog writer Geoff Dembicki.

Of course, this raises concerns about academic independence and the integrity of scientific inquiry. But more than that, the first-ever review of academic papers and investigations into Big Oil’s ties to higher education reveals the industry gains “substantial material and reputational benefits” by funding programs at colleges and universities, from Princeton to MIT to the University of Calgary.

Think about it: The fossil fuel industry keeps its false image as “stewards of the earth” by downplaying their products’ outsized harm to the environment in academia, too, not just through advertising and lobbying. This pattern of industry influence shows “the academic integrity of higher education is at risk,” researchers from six universities write in the paper. But this is not news to some of us: It’s a global climate obstruction strategy that dates back decades. 

In fact, just last year DeSmog focused on MIT’s involvement with Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber’s futuristic Masdar project, a failed undertaking that helped burnish the green reputation of the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company – enough to make him leader of last year’s COP28.

The issue isn’t even limited to academia and advertising. Election season is here and from Canada to the UK to the U.S., Big Oil is up to their old tricks. This week we look at how the UK Labour Party’s upcoming conference will feature events sponsored by fossil fuel lobbyists and major polluters. And now it looks like a climate denier is a major player in British Columbia’s upcoming election. Read more.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter. 

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Fossil Fuel Lobbyists and Major Polluters to Sponsor Labour Conference Events

— By Sam Bright (6 min. read) —

This year’s Labour Party conference will feature events sponsored by an oil and gas trade group, the owner of the UK’s largest emitting power plant, and a gas distribution company, DeSmog can reveal. 

The conference, which is being held from 22 to 25 September in Liverpool, is one of the largest political gatherings in Europe and will feature set piece speeches from Labour’s newly-elected Cabinet ministers. 

How Oil And Gas Companies Infiltrate Higher Education to Maintain Influence

— By Geoff Dembicki (3 min) —

A former Exxon executive sits on a university’s board of trustees. Fossil fuel representatives develop undergraduate courses. Schools lease out their land for fracking. Industry-funded studies end up influencing federal energy policy.

These aren’t just isolated examples of oil and gas companies partnering with academic institutions, according to a new study published in the journal WIREs Climate Change by researchers with six universities, but an international effort by the industry spanning decades with the goal of obstructing and slowing down climate action. 

Climate Denier John Rustad Is Now a Major Player in BC’s October Election

— By Taylor Noakes (4 min. read) —

Thanks to the recent implosion of British Columbia’s right-leaning BC United party, John Rustad, the leader of the Conservative Party of BC, is no longer a fringe player in a fast-approaching provincial election. 

With just over a week in the mainstream spotlight, Rustad has made headlines for a number of statements that deny the existence of climate change.

‘Colossal Waste’: U.S. Leads Way in Public Spending on False Climate Solutions

— By Julia Conley (4 min. read) —

Among the world’s wealthiest countries, the U.S. leads the way in spending public money on so-called climate “solutions” that have been proven to “consistently fail, overspend, or underperform,” according to an analysis released Thursday by the research and advocacy group Oil Change International.

The group’s report, titled Funding Failure, focuses on international spending on carbon capture and fossil-based hydrogen subsidies, which continues despite ample data showing that the technological fixes have “failed to make a dent in carbon emissions” after 50 years of research and development.

Massive CP2 LNG Export Facility Faces New Legal Hurdle Over FERC Approval

— By Sara Sneath (3 min. read) —

Environmental advocates, landowners, and fishers filed two petitions with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday, challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent authorization for the construction of a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. FERC approved the Calcasieu Pass (CP2) LNG terminal proposed by Venture Global in a 2-1 vote in late June.

“The approval of the CP2 LNG project is a clear indication that FERC is serving the interests of powerful industry actors rather than protecting vulnerable communities and upholding the public interest,” James Hiatt, a former oil refinery worker and Director of the Louisiana-based nonprofit For a Better Bayou, wrote in a prepared statement. 

From the Climate Disinformation Database: George Mason University

George Mason University was a “magnet for right-wing money” during the 1990s. From 1992 through 1994, twelve libertarian foundations invested a combined total of $8.55 million in various academic programs and institutes of George Mason University. This funding helped establish (and continues to support) the University’s libertarian “study centers.” Big oil owners Koch Industries, apart from providing significant funding to GMU, also has personnel connected to the university. GMU’s Mercatus Center has consistently lobbied against greenhouse gas emission policy. Bruce Yandle, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics at the Mercatus Center implied there may be benefits to climate change in a 2007 Mercatus Center presentation that stated: “The assumptions do not lead us to conclude that we should venture forth and take costly action to reduce emissions. […] There is a matter of benefits and costs. Is it possible that global climate change is on balance helpful to human populations and the environment?

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