Climate Liars: JCU Welcomes Journalist and Author Stella Levantesi

Rather than simple denial, modern anti-climate action has taken on a more insidious approach through lobbying, greenwashing, and shifting responsibility from producer to consumer. Climate journalist Stella Levantesi revealed these strategies during her talk at John Cabot University on February 20, “Climate Liars,” and how to fight back against them. Levantesi is an Italian climate journalist, author of the book I bugiardi del clima (Laterza Editori, 2021) and “Gaslit” column on DeSmog. Her expertise in climate change and its denial has been featured in major publications like The Guardian, Wired, and The New Republic, and has delivered a TEDx talk on the subject. The event was organized by the JCU Department of Communication and Media Studies and Grassroots Student Club.

As one of only a handful of climate reporters in Italy, Levantesi is an expert in combating all sorts of anti-climate actions. Despite the media focus on general climate denial, Levantesi has found one much larger obstacle, which she calls “climate liars.” Climate liars are the key players in the fossil fuel industry, as well as their allies, who are intentionally acting to obstruct and delay climate action.

This means climate denial is not due to simple misinformation — it’s the result of a deliberate decades-long disinformation campaign by the fossil fuel industry meant to deny, deflect, and delay climate action.

For example, Exxon knew about the risks of fossil fuels decades before the public did, but rather than changing their practices, they orchestrated the climate denial campaign. By understanding anti-climate action as a purposeful strategy of the powerful, rather than the misinformed actions of the uneducated, we can learn to fight back against their manipulative strategies and save our planet.

Deny
From media to politics, denial is the first step in obstructing climate action. This includes efforts by fossil fuel companies to purposefully manufacture doubt about global warming and to spend billions of dollars to block federal and international climate action. In the sphere of politics, many of the supposed climate deniers in the U.S. government don’t necessarily believe what they’re saying — they only spread denial to the public because the oil and gas industry rewards U.S. lawmakers who oppose environmental protections to the tune of millions of dollars each year. Meanwhile, the media also promotes this denial by presenting climate deniers as expert voices under the illusion of being “fair and balanced,” or with the goal of attracting viewers through controversy.

Deflect
Many in the fossil fuel industry have understood that, as the effects of climate change worsen, straight-up denial becomes more difficult to maintain. This is why some have shifted their strategies to deflection— attempting to redirect responsibility from the producer to the consumer. While it is important to consider what we’re supporting with our consumption, only worrying about our own personal carbon footprint is exactly what big oil wants us to do. The first individual carbon footprint calculator was invented by fossil fuel company BP (which emits about 340 million tons of CO2 each year). They did this to prompt the idea that emissions are the individual’s responsibility and divert attention from the industry’s responsibility. Fossil fuel companies thus deflect their own responsibility for climate change — which is significant, given that only 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions.

Delay
When denying isn’t enough, fossil fuel companies have found success in delaying action— and its urgency — while promoting the false perception that something is being done. One example of this is “fossil fuel solutionism,” a narrative the industry is promoting that says the fossil fuel industry is part of the solution, rather than the source of the problem. The industry spins the idea that we have to rely on fossil fuels for now, but they are  slowly transitioning away from them and attempting to reach net zero emissions. However, if you look at what fossil fuel companies are actually investing in, it’s just more carbon extraction projects. These companies also make big, public promises about decreasing their emissions and pollution, then secretly roll them back.

Greenwashing
Now more than ever, companies want to fuel the perception that they are sustainable. But this “green” advertising is misleading the public. Essentially, the oil and gas industry is pushing fake climate solutions on us that are actually making climate change worse. This trickery is called greenwashing.  

“They’re telling us they’re part of the solution, and that they really want to help save the world from climate change,” Levantesi explained. “But what they’re really doing is tricking you with advertising.”

She references Client Earth’s project, The Greenwashing Files, which provides in-depth explanations of how companies are misleading the public about their sustainability efforts. Another example Levantesi provided is a study on the impact of greenwashing on the public’s attitudes toward fossil fuel corporations’ sustainability initiatives. The study, which showed subjects an ExxonMobil ad that used strategies of greenwashing and fossil fuel solutionism, revealed that a one-time exposure to two 30-second fossil fuel ads containing greenwashing was enough to positively influence individuals’ opinions of the industry’s efforts around transitioning to renewable energy. The study also found that the effects of greenwashing are disturbingly persistent; even showing viewers data about the companies’ actual investments, compared to their claims about it in the ads, did not fully reverse or correct the greenwashed ads’ initial impact.

Sponsorships
Levantesi said that sponsorships are a huge strategy that the fossil fuel industry uses to obstruct climate action. Overall, the objective of sponsorships is to give oil and gas companies a social license to operate. For decades, fossil fuel companies have normalized their presence and polished their image by giving donations and sponsorships to associate themselves with feel-good events and causes. Levantesi wrote an article about the topic, called “How the Fossil Fuel Industry Buys Goodwill, ”which shows how fossil fuel companies sponsor everything from sports championships and major universities to music festivals and art galleries. These sponsorships give these companies social legitimacy in the minds of the public, which allows them to dissociate their image from a dirty product and remove accountability for their actions.

Some of these sponsorships even include supposedly environmentalist events, like the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Levantesi wrote an article demonstrating that the vast majority of partners at climate talks at COP27 were enmeshed with the oil and gas industry. These findings underscore the concerns over the role of the fossil fuel industry at the negotiations, which have become a focal point for deals to exploit African natural gas.

Money and political influence
“None of these communicative aspects would matter if the fossil fuel industry didn’t divert and channel mass amounts of funds into their climate denial,” Levantesi said.

Through lobbying and campaign financing, fossil fuel companies have direct access to our decision-makers, and thus the ability to undermine our democracy and control the outcomes of legislation. One example of the immense power these fossil fuel companies hold can be seen with Joe Manchin, a senator from West Virginia. Manchin is known for disrupting any attempt at a climate agenda from the Democratic party. It’s well documented that Manchin is deeply embedded in the coal industry. He became a millionaire from his own coal business and has accepted more campaign funding from the oil and gas industry than any of his colleagues

Solutions
“Facts aren’t enough to combat climate disinformation,” Levantesi said. “It’s also really important to present and describe what the strategies to spread disinformation are.”

Levantesi has taken the approach of climate journalism to combat disinformation and denial, and she has some advice for what journalists can do. But in the age of social networks, her advice is applicable to everyone with a phone and a community.

In times like these when the fossil fuel industry is doing everything it can to mislead and blame the public for the climate crisis, it’s important to remember this quote by American folk singer Utah Phillips:

“The earth is not dying; it is being killed. And those who are killing it have names, and addresses.”

(Sloane Polhemus)