Repugnant Duncan from South Carolina told AOC to educate herself about natural gas in a recent committee hearing addressing her amendment to a bill to lease more land to the fossil fuel industry. He should read this before telling colleagues to "educate" themselves about the industry. The Intercept posted a recent article about the propaganda strategy used by oil and gas companies to great success. Congress subpoenaed documents in November 2021 from four of the world's largest oil companies and their US trade association. These included internal communications about their communications and media relations. They show an industry dedicated to preserving their social license, subsidies, and political power. In football terms, it amounts to calling the same play because it gains ground.
The strategy began using early market research to identify natural gas as a "bridge fuel" or "clean alternative fuel" that would allow the nation to switch from more polluting sources such as coal. Duncan's rhetoric against AOC reflects the success of this propaganda program. Identifying methane as a solution to global warming is slightly preposterous, since it its eighty times more potent than CO₂. Other so-called "low-carbon" approaches intended to prolonged the life of fossil fuel combustion include carbon capture and storage. Despite claims that the industry is not subsidized, internal communications from Shell show one executive saying that joining a carbon capture project with Exxon-Mobil is entirely dependent on the government doubling the carbon capture tax credit. Instead of discussing taxing carbon emissions, the industry and government is discussing how large to make the subsidy for storing carbon. The Shell executive writes that, "if government funding and regulation do not happen, Exxon's management team will not move forward." Subsidies? Not so much. Carbon capture is not a solution either, it is a pernicious enabler, just like Mr. Duncan. To reduce carbon emissions they must have a negative incentive--like a tax.
If you cannot reach a goal, move the goal posts. That is exactly what Chevron did in 2020. It skipped pass the 1.5C rise in global temperature supposedly agreed to in Paris. It turns out that the industry never really accepted that goal as valid. As early as 2017 BP was pushing a 2℃ rise. In a document put out by the industry's climate collaboration project, Chevron suggested that changing the goal "net zero emissions" to a more realistic "reduced emissions". None of the five major oil producers invest more than 5% of their capital in finding alternative energy solutions.
Shell has apparently done the most to transition to clean energy, but it is still concerned about maintaining its "societal license" to operate. In a 2019 plan to protect its reputation, the company noted that the industry suffers from low credibility and trust with the public concerned about climate change. One of its goals said the company is to,“secure partnerships with credible external influencers and commercial entities that support and strengthen societal license to operate and grow at country and asset level.” Translation: keep politicians like Mr. Duncan on their side. Another of the targets of this propaganda campaign is college campuses. The industry has extensive ties with major universities in the form of research grants. According to one study, research centers funded by fossil fuel companies show a bias in favor of natural gas compared to research centers not funded by fossil fuel companies. BP’s former vice president and head of regulatory advocacy and policy, wrote: “These relationships (along with those we have with Harvard, Tufts and Columbia) are key parts of our long-term relationship-building and outreach to policy makers and influencers in the U.S. and globally."
Oil and Gas companies are not shy about confronting media they do not like. Mobil's combative former VP Herb Schmertz once cut off the Wall Street Journal from any information from his company. The House Oversight Committee which subpoenaed the documents referred to here did not have the time or resources to complete its investigation. Now that the industry's handmaidens are in control of the House, it is very unlikely that it will be completed says Ro Khanna (D CA), who previously chaired the committee. So Mr. Duncan, perhaps you should be the one to do his homework, and get the facts straight.