{"id":106,"date":"2022-08-23T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/?page_id=106"},"modified":"2022-11-01T12:58:48","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T12:58:48","slug":"1-7-why-didnt-they-act","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/endnotes\/how-climate-works\/1-7-why-didnt-they-act\/","title":{"rendered":"1.7 Why Didn\u2019t They Act?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Naomi Oreskes<\/a><\/p>\n

All online sources accessed on

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    \nthe many ways the fossil fuel industry spread disinformation<\/q> Union of Concerned Scientists, Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco\u2019s Tactics to \u2018Manufacture Uncertainty\u2019 on Climate Change<\/span><\/cite>, 2007, https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/smoke-mirrors-hot-air<\/a>; Oreskes, N., and Conway, E., Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming <\/span>(New York: Bloomsbury, 2010); Cook, J., et al., America Misled: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Deliberately Misled Americans about Climate Change<\/span>, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, 2019, https:\/\/www.climatechangecommunication.org\/america-misled\/<\/a>; Mann, M. E., The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet <\/span>(New York: PublicAffairs, 2021).\n<\/p>\n

    \nfocused on the industry Goliath ExxonMobil<\/q> Banerjee, N., et al., Exxon: The Road Not Taken<\/span><\/cite> (New York: Inside Climate News, 2015); Rust, S., \u2018Report details how Exxon Mobil and fossil fuel firms sowed seeds of doubt on climate change\u2019<\/cite>,LA Times<\/span>, 21 October 2019, https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2019-10-21\/oil-companies-exxon-climate-change-denial-report<\/a>; Columbia Journalism School, \u2018Two-year-long investigation: what Exxon Knew about climate change\u2019<\/cite>, 2017, https:\/\/journalism.columbia.edu\/two-year-long-investigation-what-exxon-knew-about-climate-change<\/a>; On, J., and Balkin, A., ExxonKnew https:\/\/www.sej.org\/initiatives\/sifting-disinformation\/exxonsecretsorg<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \nfrom the 1990s onward, the company promoted<\/q> Supran, G., and Oreskes, N., \u2018Assessing ExxonMobil\u2019s climate change communications (1977\u20132014)\u2019<\/cite>, Environmental Research Letters<\/span>, 12 (8), 2017: Article 084019, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/1748-9326\/aa815f<\/a>; Supran, G., and Oreskes, N., \u2018Rhetoric and frame analysis of ExxonMobil\u2019s climate change communications\u2019<\/cite>, One Earth<\/span>, 4 (5), 2021: 696\u2013719, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.oneear.2021.04.014<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \nThey also deflected attention from their role<\/q> Mitloehner, F., \u2018Big oil distracts from their carbon footprint by tricking you to focus on yours\u2019<\/cite>, CLEAR Center, 16 October 2020, https:\/\/clear.ucdavis.edu\/blog\/big-oil-distracts-their-carbon-footprint-tricking-you-focus-yours<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \nfront groups, such as the Global Climate Coalition<\/q> Revkin, A. C., \u2018Industry\u2019s advisers on climate\u2019<\/cite>, New York Times<\/span>, 23 April 2009, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/04\/24\/science\/earth\/24deny.html<\/a>; Oreskes, N., \u2018My facts are better than your facts: spreading good news about global warming\u2019<\/cite>, in Howlett, P., and Morgan, MS., eds., How Well Do Facts Travel? The Dissemination of Reliable Knowledge <\/cite>(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 136\u201366.<\/p>\n

    \nIn 2006 the UK Royal Society<\/q> Ward, R., letter to Nick Thomas (Director, Corporate Affairs, Esso), 4 September 2006, https:\/\/royalsociety.org\/~\/media\/royal_society_content\/policy\/publications\/2006\/8257.pdf<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \nIt seemed destined for success, until<\/q> Weiss, D. J., \u2018Anatomy of a Senate Climate Bill Death\u2019<\/cite>, Center for American Progress, 12 October 2010, https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/article\/anatomy-of-a-senate-climate-bill-death\/<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \nBetween 2000 and 2016, fossil fuel interests<\/q> Brulle, R. J., \u2018Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations\u2019<\/cite>, Climatic Change<\/span>, 122 (4), 2014: 681\u201394, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10584-013-1018-7<\/a>; Brulle, R. J., personal email communication with the author, 14 October 2021. In both the study and the correspondence, \u2018lobbying\u2019 is not categorized as pro- or anti-climate, but it seems safe to assume that most if not all fossil fuel lobbying was against climate action.<\/p>\n

    \nabetted by the wishful thinking of people<\/q> Oreskes, N., \u2018Wishful thinking about natural gas\u2019<\/cite>, Le Monde diplomatique<\/span>, 1 August 2014, https:\/\/mondediplo.com\/openpage\/wishful-thinking-about-natural-gas<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \ncould not \u2018risk alienating and demonizing\u2019<\/q> Bacow, L. S., \u2018A message from President Bacow on climate change\u2019<\/cite>, Harvard Office of the President, 21 April 2020, https:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/president\/news\/2020\/message-from-president-bacow-on-climate-change\/<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

    \nmany of these \u2018partners\u2019 had demonized climate scientists<\/q> Harvard also stressed that some of these partners had committed to \u2018carbon neutrality\u2019. But those commitments referred to emissions from their operations, not from the fuels that they intended to continue to sell for decades to come. Such claims were equivalent to cigarette manufacturers promising that their factories would be smoke-free while they continued to sell cigarettes around the globe. For example, in 2019, ExxonMobil projected no reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector through to 2040 \u2013 and no date at which emissions reach net zero, implying indefinite warming. ExxonMobil, Outlook for Energy: A Perspective to 2040<\/span>, 2019, https:\/\/corporate.exxonmobil.com\/-\/media\/Global\/Files\/outlook-for-energy\/2019-Outlook-for-Energy_v4.pdf.<\/a> See also Mulvey, K., et al., \u2018Fossil fuel companies claim they\u2019re helping fight climate change. The reality is different\u2019<\/cite>, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists<\/span>, 17 December 2019, https:\/\/thebulletin.org\/2019\/12\/fossil-fuel-companies-claim-theyre-helping-fight-climate-change-the-reality-is-different\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \nMost economists now recognize climate change as a market failure<\/q> Steffen, W., et al., \u2018The trajectory of the Anthropocene: the Great Acceleration\u2019<\/cite>, Anthropocene Review<\/span>, 2 (1), 2015: 81\u201398, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2053019614564785<\/a>; Stern, N., The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review <\/span>(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), https:\/\/webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/ukgwa\/20100407172811\/https:\/www.hm-treasury.gov.uk\/stern_review_report.htm<\/a>; Benjamin, A., \u2018Stern: climate change a \u201cmarket failure\u201d\u2019<\/cite>, Guardian<\/span>, 29 November 2007, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2007\/nov\/29\/climatechange.carbonemissions<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \ninvisible \u2018because it is not there\u2019<\/q> Stiglitz, J., \u2018There is no invisible hand\u2019<\/cite>, Guardian<\/span>, 20 December 2002, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2002\/dec\/20\/highereducation.uk1<\/a>. Stiglitz actually said that the hand \u2018is invisible, at least in part, because it\u2019s not there\u2019.\n<\/p>\n

    \n\u2018technological products are not neutral\u2019<\/q> Pope Francis, \u2018Encyclical letter Laudato si\u2019 of the Holy Father Francis on care for our common home\u2019<\/cite>, 24 May 2015, section 107, https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Naomi Oreskes All online sources accessed on 14 October 2021 the many ways the fossil fuel industry spread disinformation Union of Concerned Scientists, Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco\u2019s Tactics to \u2018Manufacture Uncertainty\u2019 on Climate Change, 2007, https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/smoke-mirrors-hot-air; Oreskes, N., and Conway, E., Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":14,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-essay.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-106","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theclimatebook.org\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}