The Angry Clean Energy Guy, Assaad Razzouk says that fossil fuel company lies are beyond belief. Many think they breathe fresh air, but there are 9 million people who die each year because of air pollution linked directly to burning oil, coal and gas fossil fuels. More than Covid. That is more than 1/5th of annual deaths, and more than dying from smoking or malaria combined. That is just from burning fossil fuels. That does not include the extraction.
- mining and health issues of miners or communities around mining
- severe health issues around the mines
- Destruction of ground cover
- Buries streams
- Once burnt, dump coal / fly ash into nature. Sometimes into regulated areas.
- Coal ash silent killer, heavy metals go into water and communities then drink.
Fossil fuels companies set a trap. They transfer the damage from themselves to the individual. BP The notion of personal carbon footprint – through their activities
Moving Responsibility from Companies to Consumers
BP invented the personal carbon footprint. Spent $100m each year from 2004 to 2006 in a campaign called “beyond petroleum”. To subtly put into our heads that we needed an individual response to climate change.
In published reviews from Harvard, Supran et al (Link is here for 2017), Scientific American 2021, Exxon had been systematically moved the responsibility to consumers. Harvard researchers looked at Exxon internal documents and articles over 50 years from 1977-2014. Exxon knew by 1984 that burning fossil fuels created climate change. But Exxon manipulated public opinion – said it was due to “energy demand from consumers”. They used sophisticated language and changed “fossil fuel combustion” to “energy demand of consumers”. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars to push climate change way out into the future, which may or may not happen, rather than the real and present danger today.
While Exxon was helping customers reduce their scale back their emissions of CO2 burning of fossil fuels, at the same time were expanding into new markets. They said that fossil fuels must be relied upon to meet society’s immediate and near-term needs. Fossil fuels would help poor countries deliver prosperity. Exxon and BP are more sophisticated today. Harvard Press 2021
Assaad Razzouk has a podcast and says every day, so many things that happen around the world make him angry when he looks at them with lenses colored by the climate change chaos unfolding everywhere around us. And he is especially angry because I know we can solve the climate change crisis if we were only trying. In episode 56, he talks about corporate evil: companies knowingly doing harm. In this episode, the Angry Clean Energy Guy features an Adarni from India who is overtly trying to greenwash its deeds by using children, while simultaneously – and boldly – trying to fry the planet.
Australian Gas Companies Lying
A review by ACCR titled Facts over fiction: Debunking gas industry spin in 2022 highlights how gas companies are presenting a rosy picture of gas as a transition fuel from coal to renewable. What they say is:
“We’re absolutely committed to continuing to support the energy and emissions-reduction needs of our region through our role as a global LNG exporter”
Angus Taylor, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, August 2022
- Gas has not materially displaced coal use in Australia’s largest LNG markets to date.
- Variable renewable energy is the largest source of new electricity capacity in China and Japan.
- Gas should no longer be classed as clean.
- Paris-aligned IEA scenarios project a limited role for coal-to-gas displacement.
- Gas is an expensive source of electricity generation.
- Battery storage is now competitive with gas peaking plants for firming renewable generation.
- The Australian LNG industry is not walking its talk.
- Australia’s LNG producers use IEA data selectively.
Adani Adopting Same Lies & Strategy
Assaad goes through in detail about Adani, about using children and education.
They rebranded their company from Adarni to Bravus. Ironically, they thought Bravus meant brave and strong, but it actually means crooked or depraved in Latin! Goodness is imperative to growth. For a full review, checkout the RenewEconomy Article
- Coal to plastic project
- Exporting coal from Carmichael to India to burn coal for supply to Bangladesh.
- Educating children with the same messages (https://ican.adani.com/our-story)
The Fossil Fuel Company Lies Podcast by The Angry Clean Energy Guy Podcast 56
