Message From the Editor
We are just days before Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, and if his cabinet confirmation hearings this week are any indication, climate denial will be an unapologetic source of pride for this upcoming administration.
During Senate questioning of Chris Wright, Trump’s pick to be energy secretary, Republicans tossed the fracking CEO softball questions and helped elevate Wright’s previous climate denial comments into badges of honor. “If you believe we can’t live without fossil fuels, you’re living in a cave,” West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice claimed before he went on to heap praise on Wright, who once said the concept of carbon pollution is “outrageous.”
Wright and Justice are pleased with their climate denial bona fides, which ultimately sows confusion about what really is happening with global warming. But DeSmog is prepared for this kind of chaos that the Trump administration will whip up to distract us from the urgency of fixing our planet, and aim to keep pointing out the lies behind the deny and delay tactics.
Take, for instance, a new study that DeSmog’s Sharon Kelly wrote about this week that highlights how fossil fuel companies and their allies use social media to form an echo chamber of denial on social media. Researchers found signs of “coordinated climate obstruction efforts” among oil, plastics, and agrichemical industries that downplay the critical need to transition to renewable energy.
Is this coordination intentional? Are these industries engaging in a joint enterprise to deceive consumers and the public about petrochemical products and climate change? One source said, “We may need legal discovery to answer those questions,” Kelly wrote.
DeSmog writes a lot about how fossil fuel organizations engage in climate obstruction as well as false solutions. In Europe, Norwegian oil giant Equinor retracted a claim that it stores about a million tons of carbon dioxide annually at its flagship carbon capture project after DeSmog found data showing the real figure was as little as a tenth of that amount.
Equinor had doubled down, making false claims about a false solution. Read on for more on the exclusive exposé.
With Trump’s inauguration on Monday, we are on the verge of a new world order that looks to an earlier era, where drilling for more oil and gas will be the top priority for fossil fuel billionaires to keep lining their pockets – not addressing the most pressing issue of our time: climate change. Help us help you stay on top of this shift: 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
P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Credit: PLOS Climate
Exclusive: Norway’s Equinor Forced to Withdraw Key Carbon Capture Claim
— By Edward Donnelly (6 min. read) —
Oil company was storing a fraction of advertised amount of CO2 at offshore project, data shows.
New Study Shows How Fossil Fuel Sectors Create a Climate Denial Echo Chamber on Social Media
— By Sharon Kelly (3 min. read) —
Research finds signs of “coordinated climate obstruction efforts” among oil, plastics, and agrichemical industries in social media messaging.
Fossil Fuel Advocate Nigel Farage is Building a House in High Climate Risk Area
— By Sam Bright (6 min. read) —
The Reform UK leader is betting his home on climate denial, campaigners say.
The Wrong Lesson From Trudeau’s Fall Is That Climate Action Is Unpopular
— By Mitch Anderson (5 min) —
What the country craves is fewer selfies and more action to confront the emergency.
Photos: 2024 Was the LNG Export Boom’s Wild Year
— By Ashley Braun and Julie Dermansky (5 min. read) —
DeSmog reflects on some of the major moments in U.S. LNG policy, the courts, and protest in a turbulent year for this fossil fuel.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Chris Wright
Chris Wright is a fracking executive nominated to run the Department of Energy by President-elect Donald Trump. Wright is CEO of Colorado-based Liberty Energy and has founded and held executive roles with various fracking companies. According to Wright, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition.” He has also claimed that “any negative impacts from climate change were clearly overwhelmed by the benefits of increasing energy consumption.” Wright described Bjorn Lomborg, who downplays the climate crisis, as a “friend” and Lomborg’s book as “fantastic” in a 2020 interview.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
