Fossil Fuel Industry Ads Dominate TV Campaign

[TomCADem]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — When Barack Obama first ran for president, being green was so popular that oil companies like Chevron were boasting about their commitment to renewable energy, and his Republican opponent, John McCain, supported action on global warming.

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With nearly two months before Election Day on Nov. 6, estimated spending on television ads promoting coal and more oil and gas drilling or criticizing clean energy has exceeded $153 million this year, according to an analysis by The New York Times of 138 ads on energy issues broadcast this year by the presidential campaigns, political parties, energy companies, trade associations and third-party spenders.

That tally is nearly four times the $41 million spent by clean-energy advocates, the Obama campaign and Democratic groups to defend the president’s energy record or raise concerns about global warming and air pollution. The Times rated presidential campaign and national policy ads by whether they promoted fossil fuels or pushed clean energy and conservation, regardless of their sponsors, using ad and spending data compiled by Kantar Media, a company that tracks television advertising.

The lopsided nature of the energy messages this year contrasts sharply with 2008. Back then, global warming was a top public concern, and green ads greatly outnumbered those for fossil fuels, $152 million to $109 million, according to the analysis by The Times, which looked at 184 energy-related ads. In 2008, Chevron, one of the nation’s leading oil companies, trumpeted its investments in geothermal power, and Mr. McCain spent millions of dollars on ads featuring solar panels and wind farms as part of a solution to global warming.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/us/politics/fossil-fuel-industry-opens-wallet-to-defeat-obama.html?pagewanted=all

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The Romney campaign is brought to you by Sheldon Adelson and Big Oil.

[defacto7]

1. We're sliding backward folks

but what do you expect? I stay pretty close to a couple of science blogs which are constantly bombarded by paid thug trolls that do nothing but argue the most redundant and illegitimate information, psudo science, deceit, we are pounded by it day after day and it's blatant non-science. Some of these shills have great sci-talk; it's an art. But all the same denialist bull shit and pro-oil propaganda. And no matter how educated the scientific community and how heckled they are, they come right back with the same repeated ad nauseum.

I can't imagine how deft they are on non-science sites where their sci-talk sounds "so realistic it has to be true... I have no idea what he's saying but I have to look like I know what he's talking about... it must be right".

McLuhan was right, "The media IS the message". More politically correct now.. "the lie IS the message".

[TomCADem]

2. This is why the election will be tough. With enough money, anything is possible.

[GTurck]

3. I hate the...

slick natural gas ad with the woman showing how fracking isn't so fricking bad. There are many who still believe that the government is hoarding fossil fuels to keep the prices up.
We have to wean ourselves of the dependence on gas and oil and those ads just make it that much harder for people to understand that.

[oldsarge54]

4. We didn't help

We didn't help ourselves on this issue, that is for sure. Obama ran on green, tried to help green companies, and too many of them failed. This gave Republicans four years to confuse the issue with cries of crony capitalism and back door cash. What most voters don't think about, or should I say connect, is the new business failure rates during a recession. Especially trying to expand a new "ish" industry in a recession. Timing was off.

That blasted pipeline argument, the inability of rank and file republicans to identify between "delay" and "cancel" or to differentiate between permanent and temporary jobs was another Republican windfall. Problem here is Republicans aimed their arguments at a gut level, Democrats aimed at the intellect with facts. In this country, regrettably, which argument will fly?

What irritates me is that we should have already gone green. Jimmy Carter was right on that, or wait a minute, what he trying to push green during a recession as well? Maybe we need to work on our timing.

[TomCADem]

5. Oil Companies Will Always Fight Environmental Efforts

...The fact of the matter is that alternative energy initiatives, if successful, would diminish their demand. Why do you think the House Republicans this week passed a bill to stop funding for alternative energy companies. Republicans are in the pocket of the oil industry. There will never be a magical time when the oil companies will not oppose green energy efforts.