Tag Archives: greenwashing

The Big Oil Playbook: recent Environmental Defence publication

That charitable organisation Environmental Defence has recently published a 23 page report called Big Oil Playbook : Fossil Fuel Industry Exposed. The report is playfully illustrated, but quite serious in concept; its purpose is clearly laid out on the first page:

The goal of this report is to paint a clear picture of how oil and gas companies operate, how they generate support for the industry and leverage it against effective climate solutions. Some of their tactics, like greenwashing and lobbying, have been well-publicized. Yet others have been largely hidden from the public, like funding astroturf groups, supporting anti-renewable energy campaigns, and infiltrating educational institutions.

The report documents ten established tactics used by the fossil industry in its battle against climate activism and decarbonisation policy.  Currents interviewed one of its lead authors, Emilia Belliveau from Environmental Defence Canada, about this project.  The broadcast version of this story is in two episodes. In the first part, Emilia explains the ten standard tactics. In the second part we dig a bit deeper into the details: how these tactics work, and their effects on communities and political life.

Continue reading The Big Oil Playbook: recent Environmental Defence publication

Turning Down the Heat Part 3: It’s Time to Kick Some Ass  (ie – Mobilize People Power)


By Max Thaysen and the Cortes Island Climate Action Network

“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal… To hope is to give yourself to the future – and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.” ― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

We’ve got the receipts, we just need to break the door down (aka build and wield power). 

Continue reading Turning Down the Heat Part 3: It’s Time to Kick Some Ass  (ie – Mobilize People Power)

Canada’s competition watchdog opens inquiry into Pathways Alliance ads over greenwashing allegations

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Competition Bureau is officially investigating an ad campaign that Greenpeace Canada argues is “false and misleading” because it suggests Canada’s six biggest oilsands companies are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping Canada achieve its climate targets.

The Pathways Alliance’s six members — Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil subsidiary Imperial, MEG Energy and Suncor — are responsible for 95 per cent of Canada’s oil sands production. A complaint filed in March by Greenpeace Canada took aim at the group’s “Let’s clear the air” marketing campaign, which presents its members as “making clear strides toward net zero” to help Canada “achieve a sustainable future.”

Continue reading Canada’s competition watchdog opens inquiry into Pathways Alliance ads over greenwashing allegations