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Congressional report reveals how big oil engaged in disinformation
Insights from The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal
The News
Big oil companies have downplayed their effects on climate change for decades, and have lobbied against climate regulations while publicly supporting them, US Democrats alleged in a new report Tuesday.
The oil industry has engaged in “an elaborate campaign of deception and doublespeak,” according to the report issued by the Senate Budget and House Oversight Committees, based on a years-long investigation.
The committees examined documents dating back to November 2015 from oil giants including Exxon, Shell, BP, and Chevron, as well as lobbying organizations such as the American Petroleum Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce. The findings detailed how these companies have privately been skeptical of international climate targets, even as they pledged to uphold them, and have funded university research projects focusing on the benefits of carbon-capture technology and natural gas.
The Senate Budget Committee is set to hold a hearing about the report on Wednesday.
SIGNALS
Report reveals oil companies ‘duplicity’ after the Paris Agreement
“This is our best post-Paris Agreement look at these companies’ ongoing duplicity,” an environmental studies professor who is slated to testify at Wednesday’s hearing told The Guardian. The new report zooms in on oil company conversations and lobbying tactics after 2015, but there’s rich history here — especially for Exxon. Previous investigations by the Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News reported that Exxon misled the public on climate change for decades, lending credence to the climate activism phrase “Exxon knew.” But the company’s executives rebuffed the new claims, with one Exxon representative calling the report’s findings “tired allegations,” The Washington Post reported, adding that “climate change is real, and we have an entire business dedicated to reducing emissions.”
Ongoing climate litigation could benefit from the report’s findings
The committees’ report could add “fresh evidence” to several ongoing climate lawsuits in the US, The Washington Post reported. Eight states have sued large oil firms, including Exxon Mobil and Shell, as well as industry trade groups for allegedly misleading the public about the dangers of climate change. Among the states suing is California, which aims to force big fossil fuel companies to set up an abatement fund to pay for future damages caused by climate-related disasters. “California’s case is the most significant, decisive, and powerful climate action directed against the oil and gas industry in US history,” the president of legal nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, which supported the litigation, told The New York Times when the suit was first filed in 2023. Now, the committees’ report could “push [cases] along,” and provide new evidence for the claims.
Big oil profits are down as investors look to a greener future
For the last two years, fossil fuel giants have enjoyed a period of “unprecedented” profitability and shareholder payouts. But industry analysts quoted in The Wall Street Journal said that companies like Exxon and Chevron will have to “keep costs down and production up” to make the good times last. Natural gas prices have dropped and many on Wall Street are “too fearful” to invest in fossil fuels because of their declining role in global energy production as both nations and individual consumers look for greener options. Oil and gas is “investors’ least favorite sector” said one market analyst, while another was more blunt: “It’s a sunset industry because of the energy transition.”
