Message From the Editor

We know that the fossil fuel industry spends millions of dollars on shaping its image in an effort to block climate action. But a new analysis reveals how a relatively small number of PR firms have aided this campaign from behind the scenes over the last three decades. Nick Cunningham reports. [[link removed]]

Meanwhile, our UK team takes a closer look at a Tory MP who suggested it is “morally wrong” to discourage poor countries from pursuing high-carbon growth on climate change grounds — it turns out he has a financial interest in numerous fossil fuel and mining companies. Phoebe Cooke and Adam Barnett have the story. [[link removed]]

We also wanted to remind you about one of our most-read stories recently that looks at climate denial on Twitter, in case you haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet. We identify the top four fear-based narratives that today’s climate deniers are spreading to prevent climate policy. Read Stella Levantesi and Giulio Corsi’s piece here. [[link removed]]

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [[email protected]].

Thanks,

Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism. [[link removed]]

The PR Industry Has Been a ‘Major’ But ‘Overlooked’ Influence in Climate Politics for Decades, Says Study [[link removed]]— By Nick Cunningham [[link removed]] (7 min. read) —

From coining “clean coal” to “carbon footprint,” public relations firms have been instrumental in shaping the public discourse around climate and energy policy, and as a new study underlines, their powerful efforts have flown under the radar for too long.

PR firms have played a key role in obstructing action on climate change over the past 30 years, engaging in PR campaigns on behalf of the fossil fuel industry to not only downplay the seriousness of climate change [[link removed]], but also to position industry-favored solutions as the preferred course of action.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Tory MP Who Criticised Climate Action For Impact on World’s Poor Has Stakes in 18 Extractive Companies [[link removed]]— By Phoebe Cooke [[link removed]] and Adam Barnett [[link removed]] (4 min. read)—

A Tory MP who suggested it is “morally wrong” to discourage poor countries from pursuing high-carbon growth on climate change grounds has a financial interest in numerous fossil fuel and mining companies.

Among the 18 extractive companies listed under the MP’s entry in the parliamentary register of interests are Shell and the world’s largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Climate Deniers Are Using These Four Major Scare Tactics to Stop Climate Action [[link removed]]— By Stella Levantesi [[link removed]] and Giulio Corsi [[link removed]] (10 min. read)—

When fossil fuel companies found out about the link between their product and climate change decades ago [[link removed]], they did everything they could to hide it. They lied, manipulated, and deceived.

Today, denying the reality of climate change isn’t as easy, and it is certainly more controversial. But that doesn’t mean climate deniers — fossil fuel companies, lobbyists, and their allies opposed to climate action — have moved past the lies.

READ MORE [[link removed]] If You Fund the Research, You Can Shape the World [[link removed]] — By Amy Westervelt, The Nation [[link removed]] (6 min. read)—

Much has been made, and rightly so, of the Koch network’s impact on universities. Entire campus projects exist to ferret out Koch cash, which is powering everything from the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University [[link removed]] to the Mercatus Center [[link removed]] at George Mason University to the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. The Koch strategy is straightforward: He who funds the research influences the research, and that research helps drive policy and public opinion.

But the Kochs, while wildly successful at playing the university game, have been far from the only corporate kingpins on the board. And they weren’t the first or even the second to join in. Heck, they weren’t even the first oil tycoons to realize the potential power of manipulating the American higher education.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Since Congress Lifted Crude Export Ban in 2015, US has Dropped ‘Climate Bomb’ on the World [[link removed]]— By Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams [[link removed]] (6 min. read)—

After Congress lifted a ban on crude exports [[link removed]] in late 2015, oil and gas production in the Permian Basin soared while domestic consumption remained flat—leading to a massive build-out of pipelines and other infrastructure that culminated in the U.S. “flooding global markets” with fossil fuels at the expense of humanity, in general, and vulnerable Gulf Coast communities already overburdened by pollution, in particular.

That’s the focus of the third chapter of The Permian Basin Climate Bomb [[link removed]], a six-part multimedia report by Oil Change International, Earthworks, and the Center for International Environmental Law. The latest installment, released Wednesday, shows that the drilling and fracking boom that turned this area in the U.S. Southwest into “the world’s single most prolific oil and gas field” over the past decade was not driven by rising domestic demand, but by a surge in exports after 2015.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Why the Oil Industry’s Pivot to Carbon Capture and Storage – While It Keeps on Drilling – Isn’t a Climate Change Solution [[link removed]]— By June Sekera [[link removed]], The New School [[link removed]] and

Neva Goodwin [[link removed]], Tufts University [[link removed]] (6 min. read)—

After decades of sowing doubt [[link removed]] about climate change and its causes, the fossil fuel industry is now shifting to a new strategy: presenting itself as the source of solutions. This repositioning includes rebranding itself as a “carbon management industry.”

This strategic pivot was on display [[link removed]] at the Glasgow climate summit and at a Congressional hearing [[link removed]] in October 2021, where CEOs of four major oil companies talked about a “lower-carbon future.” That future, in their view, would be powered by the fuels they supply and technologies they could deploy to remove the planet-warming carbon dioxide their products emit – provided they get sufficient government support.

READ MORE [[link removed]] From the Climate Disinformation Database: Mercatus Center [[link removed]]

The Mercatus Center [[link removed]] is a conservative think tank located at George Mason University and is a sister organization to the Institute for Humane Studies. The Mercatus Center was originally founded at Rutgers University by Richard Fink in the late 1970s, under the name the Center for Market Processes. Koch Industries began funding the organization when it moved to George Mason University in the 1980s, and still finances the center today. In 1999, the organization was renamed the Mercatus Center. Charles Koch and Richard Fink serve on its board of directors.

Read the full profile [[link removed]] [[link removed]]and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database [[link removed]] and Koch Network Database [[link removed]]

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