The Fossil Fuel Industry Wants You To Feel Hopeless. Don't Fall For It
It's shameless. For 50 years, fossil giants campaigned to blame you for the climate crisis, so you feel guilty and they get off scot-free.
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A powerful heist pulled by corporations that benefit from destroying the earth is that the climate crisis is everyone’s fault. It’s convenient for them. If people dwell in pessimism about the state of humanity, they won’t be out voting and organising to replace national energy systems that burn coal, oil and gas with clean power from sun, wind and batteries.
And if people are incapacitated by shame, they might not notice that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the toxic pollution driving unnatural disasters.
I find this shocking statistic weirdly inspiring because it sounds like a problem that with an ounce of will, we most certainly can solve.
But these same companies have run decades-long campaigns to recast blame onto individuals in the community. And they know very well the emotional impact of those campaigns.
Oil CEO says climate change is your fault
In February, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods had the gall to blame the public for the world being off track on pollution reduction. But this is not a recent deception. A linguistic analysis of 50 years of ExxonMobil company documents by Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supan concluded the company uses subtle rhetoric to shift the blame for climate change away from itself and onto individuals, depicting “oil companies as innocent, trustworthy innovators simply giving the people what they demand.”
“[D]emand for energy is conflated with demand for fossil fuels, gaslighting the public into thinking that there is no alternative to our status quo, fossil-fuelled society and that we, the public, are responsible,” says Supan.
“So while their outright denial has tapered off, their propaganda hasn’t stopped. It’s in fact shifted into high gear and is now operating with a sophistication that we’ve never seen before.”
People want hot showers, cold beers, and an easy way to get across town to visit an old friend. They don’t want or need these things to be powered by burning coal, oil and gas. And with 40% of the Australian electricity grid already powered by clean energy, fossil fuel corporations know the alternatives are very real.
Coal mining giant Adani launched a campaign asking individuals to blame themselves for climate change. “If climate change concerns you,” they say, “ask yourself what you have done to mitigate its impact.”
Adani’s “I can” campaign suggests piecemeal actions that do nothing to challenge their right to profit from pollution. Click “Be inspired” on their website and read how you can shop vintage, carpool and eat organic – forgetting how a coal mine controlled by the $260 billion conglomerate is eating an entire Indian village.
Adani suggests people calculate their “carbon footprint.” They forget to mention how oil giant BP hired public relations giant Ogilvy & Mather to invent the idea of the carbon footprint in the first place. From 2004, BP then spent $100 million a year marketing the idea.
It’s an old strategy. Back in 1953, Coca-Cola and bottle manufacturers created litter bug campaigns to displace the problem of plastic waste away from their production, and onto the moral failings of people who supposedly choose to litter.
And of course, Big Tobacco ran the same playbook for decades.
Here’s the data on who is causing the problem
Global data attributing pollution to specific companies is now quite sophisticated. A handful of big companies are driving the problem and laughing all the way to the bank. And there are mountains of evidence on how the same corporations have blocked political action and systematically spread bullshit.
“Richard Heede's landmark Carbon Majors research transformed the landscape of climate accountability by using the fossil fuel industry's own reported production and operation figures to calculate and expose the true scale of its role in the climate crisis,” says Carroll Muffet, CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law.
For Australians, it is interesting to see the relative pollution from different sectors in this fabulous graphic from Rewiring Australia. The grey at the top is pollution from fossil fuels exported by multinational corporations to other countries. The blue section represents pollution from households.
The "trade emissions" section shows pollution burned in Australia to make exported products. The biggest domestic user of gas is the gas industry itself.
Guilt demobilises. Outrage sparks action
Legendary community organiser Marshall Ganz taught me that our values inspire us to take action through emotion. Some emotions inhibit action – like feelings of inertia, apathy, fear, isolation and self-doubt. And some emotions motivate action – like urgency, outrage, hope, solidarity and a sense of efficacy.
The fossil fuel industry knows full well that a public feeling emotionally overwhelmed by climate issues presents no threat to their business model. At least one study has found that when people hear messages that advocate personal behavioural changes to combat climate change, it reduces their willingness to take action, decreases support for pro-climate candidates, decreases belief in the scientific consensus, and lowers trust in climate scientists.
No wonder oil giants love the “carbon footprint”.
Building power to solve the climate crisis does not look like schoolchildren entering colouring competitions run by coal corporations. Building power means collective action in civic spaces. It means schoolchildren schooling politicians on 101 climate science.
The Greta Thunberg Effect is real. People who are more familiar with Greta Thunberg have a stronger sense of collective efficacy – the belief that, by working together with like-minded others, they can have a positive impact on global heating – and they also have higher intentions of taking collective action. The “Greta Thunberg Effect” raises collective action intentions for people across all age groups and across the political spectrum.
Collective action is the pathway out of despair and towards power to protect our living world. It’s always taken small groups of thoughtful, committed citizens to change the world. And when they are woven together in huge movements for change, we can create unstoppable power.
I’m not saying individual actions don’t matter. They do. Living thoughtfully on the Earth is a care-taking practice that can create a reciprocal mindset and look after land, water and air. And small actions can add up.
So many Australian households have installed rooftop solar to power their homes, they’ve changed the nature of the energy grid, driving old coal-burning power stations to close. Rooftop solar is so cheap in the middle of the day, at times coal plants can’t afford to run.
But taking on the fossil fuel industry means pulling on the biggest levers we have – laws, policies, regulation, and social norms, and those will be driven by activism, investigation, litigation, elections, community organising and a mobilised civic society.
So live thoughtfully on the planet, but don’t feel guilty for using the energy systems forced on you by 50 years of corporate delay. Together, we can – and must – change the system for everyone.
If you’re an artist or creative, join the Clean Creatives campaign with more than 1000 creative, advertising and PR firms who have pledged not to work with fossil fuel polluters. Or join the communicators and creatives at CommsDeclare.
Fossil fuels are the new tobacco. Tell politicians to ban fossil fuel ads and sponsorships.
Check out the 160 member groups of the Climate Action Network Australia and find a group that matches your location or interests. Or leave a comment and I’ll share ideas for you!
I started this newsletter. Then I got a new job and left you, my precious EarthCrew subscribers, wondering why I stopped writing for you. My job is amazing. I am the Director of Strategy with Climate Action Network Australia, helping 160 kick-arse campaign groups collaborate. It’s busy, but we just started a four-day workweek trial. So today I have time to write! Welcome back. You were my first followers, and I am forever grateful.
I promise not to wait a year before writing again.
Kathryn McCallum