🕵️♀️ The Climate Propagandist Newsletter #4
Energy Transfer’s old-school oil propaganda + your climate propaganda digest! 🏥
Welcome back to The Climate Propagandist Newsletter, a bi-weekly playbook that aims to inform and equip storytellers to become spin doctors for climate action!
In this edition, we discuss Energy Transfer's latest commercial and the resurgence of the "oil is life" narrative. As always, we have a treasure trove of climate propaganda resources for you to explore. Keep scrolling to the end to find our curated list of recommendations!
This newsletter is proudly supported by Fossil Ad Ban.
🔦 INVESTIGATIVE PIECE: Energy Transfer’s old-school oil propaganda
This TV spot is brought to you by pipeline company Energy Transfer (remember the Dakota Access Pipeline? It’s them) and, believe it or not, it’s only a few months old!
The ad paints a picture of a couple rushing to the hospital for childbirth, only to find it completely empty. The doctor then condescendingly explains to them that this is what hospitals would look like without natural gas and oil.
This commercial is the epitome of blatant pro-oil propaganda. Forget about greenwashing - the fossil fuel industry is bringing back its old-school tactics! As the world increasingly shifts towards renewable sources, fossil fuel companies are scrambling to protect their profits. The industry has pushed a narrative that their products are essential for progress, modern life, and human well-being - a last-ditch strategy to slow down the energy transition and squeeze out every last drop of fossil fuel profits.
The caption reads, "What if we lived in a world without oil and natural gas? Our lives would be unrecognizable." The commercial employs fear-mongering tactics to persuade the public that society cannot progress without continued reliance on fossil fuels. It implies that abandoning oil and gas would result in a return to the Middle Ages - and “nobody wants that.”
Energy Transfer is telling us we should all be grateful for fossil fuels! The hospital comes back to life as the lights turn on, and the doctor proudly explains, "Without oil and gas, hospitals wouldn't have what they need to keep us healthy, heal wounds, save lives, and deliver little bundles of joy."
Is the ad suggesting that, by opposition, ending fossil fuels would cause harm to people's health, lead to deaths, and negatively impact future generations? The underlying message is pernicious and deceptive. It claims that phasing out oil and gas would have worse consequences for society than taking no action on climate change.
The commercial wraps up with the tagline "Life. It takes energy." The industry has been scheming to etch in our minds that ENERGY = FOSSIL FUELS. This false mental short-cut hinders our ability to imagine a world in which energy comes from renewable and decarbonised sources. It prevents us from thinking that, if oil and gas were to stop, hospitals would simply run on cleaner energy!
The ad gets one thing right - fossil fuels ARE the reason we live or die. And this why we must immediately stop their promotion through widespread and unrestricted advertising. #BanFossilAds now!
💼 CLIMATE PROPAGANDA DIGEST:
Don’t miss out on these handpicked resources for climate propagandists. Here’s a curated list of what to read, watch, listen to, and engage with…
📑 Reading material
REPORT: Climate Visuals: Seven principles for visual climate change communication
This report summarises the research underpinning the Climate Visuals website (climatevisuals.org) and presents the key findings so that practitioners can take an evidence-based approach to visual communication. “The imagery used to communicate climate change can and should be more diverse than polar bears and melting ice. Climate Visuals takes the first steps towards helping communicators tell a better visual story about climate change.” This is an important read for visual storytellers who want to effectively engage with the public.
TOOLKIT: “Stories to Save the World”
Our brains are wired to enjoy telling and hearing stories. This toolkit by Futerra explores how to create climate stories that break the mould and define the paths for a new reality. “Our climate destiny won’t be decided in boardrooms, or parliaments, in the financial markets, or even on the streets. It will be decided in the story which we, humanity, tells ourselves, about ourselves.” This toolkit guides us through stories that counter doom and offers new narratives to reach new audiences - an essential read for storytellers!
📻 Audio content
How can we effectively communicate that we’re moving beyond climate change to a state of climate crisis? This episode by The Creative Process features a conversation with David Fenton - “the Robin Hood of public relations.” For more than five decades Fenton has pioneered the use of PR, social media, and avertising techniques for social change. This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in creating impact campaigns. I will definitely be revisiting it again and again!
EPISODE: “Communicating Climate Change: The Power of Visual Storytelling”
“From narratives on climate aggregators in the world’s largest cities to sweeping aerial shots of storm ravaged towns, visual storytelling has a profound ability to affect the way we view climate change.” This episode by Global Affairs Live explores how visual arts can cut through the politics and rhetoric to engage the public and galvanise climate action.
📹 Video resources
WEBINAR: “Talking Shop: Visualizing Climate Change”
“Images are often the first — and sometimes only — exposure audiences have to a story, making it essential that climate visuals be powerful and accurate.” In this webinar by Covering Climate Now, visual journalists discuss how to communicate the devastating and intimate impacts of the climate emergency to audiences around the world.
🎟 Special events and offerings
WORKSHOP: “Storytelling for a Cause series: Storytelling and the unconscious mind,” September 27th
This workshop by Ministory will examine the hidden dynamics for powerful change using insights from neuro-psychology. “So much of our work, when trying to motivate audiences to a cause, can be frustrated by what may feel like an invisible force. This is the dreaded motivation gap, where people will agree with what you are doing, but at the same time will fail to show up or do anything to support your vision of change.” This workshop will take a deep dive into the unconscious mind to explore how we can overcome the dreaded motivation gap and create powerful narratives for change. The cost of the session is £75.
EVENT: ”Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors with Tory Stephens,” September 28th
In this online session hosted by Grist Magazine, Tory Stephens will discuss how he created Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, a storytelling initiative that envisions the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. The initiative seeks narratives that center solutions from communities most impacted by the crisis, rooted in cultural authenticity and rich subcultures not often seen in mainstream literature.
📢 SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT: Fossil Ad Ban
This week’s newsletter is proudly supported by Fossil Ad Ban, an Australian campaign run by Comms Declare pushing for restrictions on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships.
The fossil fuel industry should not be allowed to promote the destruction of our planet through widespread and unrestricted advertising. This includes both greenwashing and old-school oil propaganda. We must take action to stop the fossil fuel industry from pushing narratives that delay the necessary and urgent transition to clean energy.
Tell Australian politicians you support a fossil ad ban!
While you eagerly await the next newsletter, why not hop over to our Instagram and LinkedIn pages for extra climate propaganda content? We've got a lot more in store for you there!
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