1. One of the “Gold” sponsors of Climate Week in NYC is National Grid, one of the largest investor-owned gas and electric utilities in the US, with 20 million customers in New York and Massachusetts. Their website touts:
d – What they call their clean energy vision is ballyhooed on their website. They are doing a, b, and c but for some reason don’t mention that.
2. National Grid and the fossil fuel industry love to promote so-called “green hydrogen” as a replacement for gas because:
all of the above are true, but the industry pretends the first three aren’t problems
Source: Unproven, expensive, Metal pipes
3. What is “Renewable Natural Gas” ?
all of the above
4. Which of these orgs represent the fossil fuel industry?
Yep, all of them are fronting for the fossil fuel industry. Can you say “astroturf”?!
Sources: Energy Citizens
New Yorkers for Affordable Energy
Natural Allies
State Solutions
Consumer Energy Alliance
5. When the NY Times “T Brand Studio” created the Chevron Energy Challenge, how many likes did the campaign get on Twitter?
a: 5
6. The New York Times “T Brand Studio” provides clients like Chevron with
The first three are how the “T Brand Studio” promotes itself. They may or may not be true, but d is definitely true.
7. Which of the following headlines has appeared on Washington Post stories created by its “Creative Group”?:
d – all of the above (well, except (e)).
Source: The Nation: Is Your Favorite News Source Shilling for Big Oil?
8. Who drafted the “side deal” between Senators Manchin and Schumer that will gut regulations designed to make sure pipelines and oil and gas drilling are safe?
C. Unless, that is, “that uncle” happens to be Mike Sommers, CEO of the The American Petroleum Institute, then b is also correct. Click here to connect with Mike Sommers on LinkedIn.
Source: https://aboutblaw.com/4iu
9. Who did John D. Rockefeller hire to sanitize the image of Standard Oil, thereby creating the field of public relations?
b. Ivy Ledbetter Lee (right) was hired by John D in 1914 to sanitize the image of Standard Oil after a company he owned ordered the massacre of striking coal miners in Ludlow, CO.
In 1934, Lee advised Hitler and Goebbels. Source: The Nation
Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, the PR firm notorious for working for companies sowing doubt about climate science to head off climate legislation. Wikipedia
Andrew Gowers was the head of BP’s media group when the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform exploded, killing 11 workers and creating the largest marine oil spill in history. Wikipedia
Herb Schmertz, a Mobil public relations executive, invented “advertorials,” paid ads on the NY Times opinion page that were presented as opinion
10. Senator Joe Manchin has made millions from
b: He has made almost $6 million from his coal business, Enersystems, over the last 10 years. Source: NY Times
* Manchin’s daughter, Heather Bresch, was the CEO of Mylan, a pharmaceutical company that raised the price of life-saving EpiPens from $100 to $600 over 9 years.
11. What did President Biden say recently about Exxon’s profits?
He said a, but b is also true. And the Manchin “climate bill” has lots of giveaways to Big Oil
Source Bloomberg
12. Exxon Mobil is spending heavily on ads promoting their commitment to developing what they call “a lower carbon future.” How much are they actually spending on research??
*both* b and c are correct, and also d, actually. Despite their upbeat TV ads, Exxon is only spending $2.5 billion / year on research compared to $24 billion for oil and gas exploration in 2022 alone . So basically a big “screw you” to all of us.
Source: ExxonMobil website
13. Exxon and other fossil fuel companies promote “carbon capture and storage” as a climate solution. Is it really?
“Carbon Capture and Storage is grossly ineffective for reducing GHG emissions and may also make local air pollution worse, while its high costs divert resources away from renewables.”
Source: NY Renews “False Solutions” Report
Inside Climate News: Exxon Touts Carbon Capture as a Climate Fix, but Uses It to Maximize Profit and Keep Oil Flowing
14. Bonus peak behind the curtain:
At a Congressional hearing on September 15, which of these quotes from internal oil company communications were revealed:
Yup, you guessed it: e – all of the above