Even to this day, there are individuals who deny or downplay the link between the burning of fossil fuels and the impacts that pollution has on our climate and health. How did this happen? Key players in the fossil fuel industry knew decades ago that burning coal, oil, and methane gas to warm our homes, power our cars, and generate electricity was warming the planet. In July 2024, InfluenceMap published research that uncovered that the oil and gas industry has used a playbook of narratives and arguments to systematically oppose, weaken, and delay the energy transition since at least 1967. Every inflation crisis since WWII preceded by an increase in fossil fuel prices, including the inflation crisis precipitated post-Ukraine invasion. In Geoff Dembicki’s The Petroleum Papers, he documents how Imperial Oil conducted a study on carbon pricing in the early 1990s and then sent out a memo to executives on how to block it. Here is an interview link and it begins at the about 7:00 minute mark. More recently, from November 2023-October 2024 Ford, Moe, Smith, Poileivre, their parties and fossil fuel companies spent over one million dollars in spreading about the consumer carbon price on social media. There is hope. Climate concerned citizens are in the majority in Canada. A quarter of all US Americans live in jurisdictions that are suing big oil over lying to the public. For British Columbian municipalities seeking support to do the same, Sue Big Oil is the go to organization. Happily, although too many Canadians are confused about climate solutions propagated on social media and mistakenly think we need more fossil fuel infrastructure, when you inform people that the fossil fuel industry funded a climate disinformation campaign for decades, people are more likely to believe you when you present evidence-based solutions. Keep talking. You are more powerful than you think. Suggested Books: Laser Talk: Fossil Fuel Industry Funded Climate Disinformation for Decades
