Fossil Fuel and Big Tobacco — Lies That Kill

Dear Readers,

For five decades, fossil fuel corporations have used “denial, disinformation and doublespeak” to mislead the public about their product's role in causing the climate crisis. It's a PR campaign that has shifted over time, but its purpose remains the same: keep the status quo as it is. In other words, keep burning fossil fuels, so that fossil fuel companies can keep making money.

Here's a very brief summary. In the early years, fossil fuel company executives publicly denied that climate change was happening, while talking amongst themselves in reports, emails and meetings about the science that proved the greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels were warming the planet.

That worked for a few decades, but when the scientific consensus reached 99.9% of climate scientists, they pivoted and changed the conversation. Fossil fuels and emissions weren't responsible for climate change, they said, individuals were. In order to solve the problem, people need to pay attention to their “carbon footprint” and make better choices, such as recycling, changing light bulbs, and maybe flying less.

Then in 2015, after investigative reports revealed their internal communications — some going back to the 1950s ! — their duplicity was exposed. Exxon knew . They all knew. So they changed their tune again, which brings us to the “denial, disinformation and doublespeak” coming from the fossil fuel industry today: greenwashing.

Earlier this week, the Senate released a new investigative report titled “Denial, Disinformation and Doublespeak ” that found more documents showing that despite public pledges and many, many advertising campaigns pledging commitments to green energy goals, sustainable practices and new technologies, companies including Exxon, Shell, BP, and Chevron, as well the lobbying organizations the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Chamber of Commerce, were saying something different behind closed doors.

“The revelations, based on hundreds of newly subpoenaed documents, illustrate how oil companies worked to greenwash their image while fighting climate policy behind the scenes,” reports The Guardian.

In a Senate budget committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and others heard testimony from experts, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, about the report findings and how the federal government might go about holding Big Oil (and Gas ) accountable.

One possible avenue was put forward by Sharon Eubanks, the lead attorney on the federal government's racketeering case against Big Tobacco. Eubanks won that case, which forced the industry to change the way it does business. “That trial proved that the tobacco industry knew it was selling and marketing a harmful product, that it had funded denial of public health science, and had used deceptive advertising and PR to protect assets instead of protecting consumers,” she wrote in The Guardian. ?

Yesterday, she told the committee that in her legal opinion, “the similarities between the conduct of the tobacco industry and the petroleum industry form a solid and appropriate basis for investigating the petroleum industry.”

“Furthermore,” she said, “we should not waste any more time wringing our hands about what can be done. There exists solid evidentiary basis to move forward with a request to the Department of Justice to investigate the actions of the fossil fuel industry.”

It took six long years for the federal government's case against Big Tobacco to wind its way through the courts, and although I wholeheartedly hope that such a case will soon be pursued by the Justice Department against Big Oil, we don't have to wait to take action. I hope you will share the articles and videos I've shared in the links above and talk about greenwashing with your friends and family.

Another action you can take is to support an important campaign by signing on to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation treaty , a global effort to foster international cooperation to accelerate a transition to renewable energy for everyone, by ending the expansion of coal, oil and gas, and equitably phase out existing production in keeping with what science shows is needed to address the climate crisis. Learn more about this global initiative that has already been endorsed by a growing number of cities and states , including California , for transparency and accountability in phasing out fossil fuels forever, led by Tzeporah Berman, the international program director of Stand.Earth , and supported by the Dalai Lama, Nobel Prize laureates and many more.

The first step towards a true transition away from reliance on fossil fuel is sharing the truth about the devastation and deaths that are its result — not to mention the outrageous profits the fossil fuel companies are making, and will continue to make, in spite of clear evidence that the way to stop climate change is to stop burning fossil fuels.

That commitment starts with each of us committing to transition away from the traditional fossil fueled sources of our power grids for electricity and transportation to clean energy from renewable sources, and to consuming less and conserving more. It’s easier to do than ever before and the outcomes will be worth the investments we make, individually and collectively in our communities, states, and countries, in that healthier future.

Onward!

- Pat