Opinion: All fossil fuel advertisements should be banned
I think we should ban all fossil fuel advertising, simple and clear. I know this sounds extreme, but it is vital to the future of our planet.
exist October 28, 2021, Exxon Mobil, BP USA, Chevron, Shell Petroleum, American Petroleum Institute, and American Chamber of Commerce Chairman and CEO testified before Congress to address Big Oil’s intentional and calculated climate change spread misinformationThe executives were asked directly whether their company had ever approved climate change false propaganda campaigns. Despite the oath, each executive claimed one by one that they did not-this is a bold lie.
more than 99.9% The peer-reviewed scientific articles of China concluded that climate change is caused by humans, mainly through the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal. But to make matters worse, for decades, fossil fuel companies have known and played down the environmental impact of fossil fuel burning, just as the tobacco industry denies the link between smoking and cancer.
In 2015, a series of internal documents were called “Climate Deception File” Published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, it revealed that as early as 1981, fossil fuel companies knew that their products were causing global warming. These documents reveal how large oil companies deny this fact and fuel suspicion: paying scientists to publish research and publishing statements against climate scientists, and using misleading advertising to deceive the wider public.
These strategies have been very successful. So far, the United States has not had a comprehensive federal policy to deal with climate change, and the fossil fuel industry continues to deceive.
But Big Petroleum is very smart.Today, instead of encouraging people to suspect that climate change is happening, it’s better to say most Of Americans disagree, they have turned marketing to something more subtle: greenwashing.
Greenwashing is an advertising strategy that misleads the public into thinking that a company is actually not environmentally friendly. The fossil fuel industry is the culprit. Between 2008 and 2017, the oil company forked US$1.4 billion advertise, Two thirds Among them, green bleaching strategies such as the promotion of wind energy and solar energy have been implemented.However, only 1.3% Part of their 2018 total budget is for renewable energy.
The consequences of green bleaching are as dire as the consequences of denial and suspicion: shift responsibility from fossil fuel companies and postpone necessary climate action. Lawrence Tubiana, The CEO of the European Climate Foundation and the author of the Paris climate agreement affirmed that “greenwashing is the new climate denial.”
We cannot believe that large oil companies truly represent themselves, because they have never been and are not sure. A complete ban on fossil fuel advertising is the solution. We know it can work because it has worked in the tobacco industry before.
Cigarette use in the United States peaked in 1954, and 45% of Americans smoked At least once A week. In the same year, an article in the British Medical Journal confirmed the link between smoking and lung cancer. After the landmark surgeon’s report in 1964 confirmed this, a law was passed to enforce health warnings on tobacco products. But these limited regulations have little impact on tobacco use, mainly because the tobacco industry is working fast to eliminate doubts about the very scientific consensus that supports these actions.
It was not until the ban on television and radio cigarette advertisements came into effect in 1971 that cigarette use by Americans was reported to have dropped significantly.
But again, the tobacco industry responded quickly, turning most of its advertisements into print, and prioritizing the use of tobacco by young people and women. Fortunately, in 1998, the total settlement agreement reached between the four largest tobacco companies in the United States and 46 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories killed this point in its infancy, prohibiting the use of cartoons, public transportation, and billboards. And targeted marketing for minors in tobacco advertising.
Today, only 16% of Americans report smoking At least once Week.with Research Confirmation that advertising bans—along with cigarette taxes, public smoking bans, and anti-tobacco campaigns—have played a specific role in the downward trend in tobacco consumption over the past 70 years.
Obviously, advertising bans apply to regulated tobacco, and they also apply to fossil fuels-they must be comprehensive. Limited bans or health warnings leave too much room for the industry to reallocate marketing funds to other persuasive channels. We cannot give the fossil fuel industry any additional opportunities to adapt to lackluster regulations.That’s why it’s forbidden all Fossil fuel advertising is key.
Despite the doubts, the key to the success of the tobacco advertising ban lies in the fact that smoking poses a public health crisis for Americans.When it comes to big oil, the scientific consensus confirms a stronger fact: climate change will cause an estimated 250,000 deaths Per year, By 2030, more than 100 million people will be forced into extreme poverty.
The fossil fuel industry is primarily responsible for these deaths and human suffering, because 70% All of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (the main driver of climate change) are generated by the industry and its products. Whitewashing advertisements evokes public sympathy for the fossil fuel industry, making it seem as if they are doing more to protect our planet than they actually are. This weakens public opposition to activities that cause global warming, thereby threatening much-needed climate action.
At the end of the October 28 hearing on misinformation about fossil fuels, it was announced that a subpoena would be issued against a series of internal documents that had originally been refused to provide. Such documents may further reveal the lies of large oil companies.
As more and more information flows from these hearings, we as a society gain more and more power, motivation and truth, and ultimately stop deception and ensure the future health of mankind and the planet. The first step: a total ban on fossil fuel advertising.
Alexandra Grant-Hudd is a student in the master’s program at Columbia Climate School Climate and society.
