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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/09/big-oil-delay-tactics-new-climate-science-denial>
"ExxonMobil has been touting its commitment to “reducing carbon emissions with
innovative energy solutions”. Chevron would like to remind you it is keeping
the lights on during this dark time. BP is going #NetZero, but is also very
proud of the “digital innovations” on its new, enormous oil drilling platform
in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile Shell insists it really supports women in
traditionally male-dominated jobs.
A casual social media user might get the impression the fossil fuel industry
views itself as a social justice warrior, fighting on behalf of the poor, the
marginalized, and women – at least based on its marketing material in recent
years.
These campaigns fall into what a handful of sociologists and economists call
“discourses of delay”. While oil and gas companies have a long track record of
denying climate change, even after their own scientists repeatedly warned of
the harm caused by burning fossil fuels, now the industry’s messaging is far
more subtle and in many ways more effective than outright climate science
denial.
By downplaying the urgency of the climate crisis, the industry has new tools to
delay efforts to curb fossil fuel emissions. And worse yet: even industry
critics haven’t fully caught up to this new approach.
“If you just focus on climate denial, then all of this other stuff is missed,”
explains Robert Brulle, an environmental sociologist and visiting professor at
Brown University.
Brulle, who published a peer-reviewed study in 2019 that analyzed major oil
corporations’ advertising spending over a 30-year period, says the “lion’s
share” of ad dollars were directed not toward denial, or even toward the
industry’s products, but toward pro-fossil fuel propaganda – campaigns that
remind people over and over again about all the great things oil companies do,
how dependent we are on fossil fuels, and how integral the industry is to
society."
Via Robert Sanscartier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
