Why would I, in my blog which is focused on natural health alternatives, be talking about the lies of Big Oil?
Well, part of it is because I began my career as an attorney with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Division of Air Pollution Control, back in the early days of the EPA’s formation. But the bigger reason is the devastating impact these lies have had on our environment, and in turn, our health.
A recent two-year Senate investigation uncovered decades of deception. The report details how Big Oil used "denial, disinformation, and doublespeak" to protect their profits, all while knowing full well the environmental damage their products were causing.
The story goes back to 1959, when nuclear scientist Edward Teller warned the American Petroleum Institute that CO2 emissions from burning oil would melt ice caps and raise sea levels. Sounds eerily familiar, right?
By 1979, Exxon’s own scientists confirmed that continued fossil fuel consumption would trigger climate change by 2029. And here we are—Hurricane Helene and countless other climate disasters are just the tip of the melting iceberg.
Instead of taking steps to mitigate this looming crisis, Big Oil doubled down by lobbying lawmakers and spreading doubt about the science of climate change.
And if that wasn’t enough, they even lied about plastics, claiming they were recyclable when they knew most of them weren’t. California is now suing ExxonMobil for deceiving the public about plastic recycling.
Hopefully, this lawsuit will open the floodgates for more actions against Big Oil—our planet’s health and our own depends on it.
(Reported NRDC newsletter, October 2024)
No comments:
Post a Comment