Petroganda: We're Part of the Solution

Since oil companies’ scientists first began to issue reports about “the greenhouse effect” and the role of fossil fuels in creating or exacerbating it in the 1970s the industry has alternately denied climate change is an issue and claimed to be part of the solution. In recent years the industry has stopped denying climate change altogether and focused entirely on the various “solutions” that enable the industry to continue operating for as long as possible. This narrative shows up not only in endless ads about algae-based biofuels, carbon capture, renewable biodiesel—all the many ways the industry can supposedly solve climate change while continuing to develop and sell fossil fuels—but also in its funding of particular research initiatives at universities. And of course it plays a key role in the industry’s lobbying efforts, too.

In a 2020 undercover exposé by Unearthed, former Exxon lobbyist Keith McCoy explained how offering voluntary solutions is part of the industry’s strategy to avoid regulation, not just on oil and gas, but on plastics and petrochemicals too.

“You want to get smart on it, right, because you know it’s coming so you want to get ahead of it,” McCoy told the Unearthed journalists, thinking they were executive recruiters. “Like when climate change came—well it’s here but well when it started you started to have conversations to say well you can’t completely change the electric grid from coal and gas into wind and here’s why. It’s the same conversation with plastics. You can’t ban plastics because here’s why or you can’t recycle you know or legislate 100% recycling because here’s why. It’s just not technological feasible. So, so we’re doing the research, we’re looking at our markets, we’re looking at the chemistry and we’re hoping to be able to come up with, if not solutions at least some reasons and some talking points to have with members of Congress.”