Criticism intensifies after big oil admits 'gaslighting' public over green aims
Source: The Guardian
Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims
Fury as ‘explosive’ files reveal largest oil companies contradicted public statements and wished bedbugs upon critical activists
Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Sat 17 Sep 2022 11.00 BST
Last modified on Sat 17 Sep 2022 11.02 BST
Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.
The communications were unveiled as part of a congressional hearing held in Washington DC, where an investigation into the role of fossil fuels in driving the climate crisis produced documents obtained from the oil giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they wish bedbugs on you, then you win,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of Sunrise. The organization accused Shell of a “legacy of violence and of ignoring the wellbeing of communities across the globe”.
The revelations are part of the third hearing held by the House committee on oversight and reform on how the fossil-fuel industry sought to hamper the effort to address the climate crisis. Democrats, who lead the committee, called top executives from the oil companies to testify last year, in which they denied they had misled the public.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/17/oil-companies-exxonmobil-chevron-shell-bp-climate-crisis
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