The Global Fossil fuel lobby, global heating and the propaganda war

Posted on July 24, 2024 by svenaake

The billionaires in the fossil fuel industry, including big oil CEOs, Middle Eastern petro-tyrants, extreme Islamists, Chinese oil “princelings”, Russian warlords and oligarchs, are heavily invested in maintaining the current fossil fuel paradigm. They are determined to delay the inevitable shift to a more ecologically sustainable future.

The global fossil lobby spares no effort in pursuing greater wealth and power. They seem indifferent to the fact that their actions are putting our future at risk. More conflicts, famines, and extreme weather events result in increased profits for the small group of fossil fuel oligarchs. Their success hinges on our addiction to oil and the continuous dissemination of misinformation by entities such as various forms of “The Merchants of Doubt.”

Give us today our daily oil

The open market price for one barrel of oil is about USD 70 – 80 for the time being. Oil is sold in barrels. One barrel of oil is 159 liters, roughly a bathtub. Daily turnover of oil is 100 million barrels. This means 15 000 000 000 liters of oil every day (15 billion liters). Every day we burn a corresponding amount of coal and gas. If we add the coal, oil and gas, it corresponds to burning 30 billion liters per day, or an Olympic-sized swimming pool filled with oil every second, 24/7 year-round.

If we take the daily 100 million barrels and multiply it by USD 80, we get a rough idea about the global daily economic turnover of crude oil: we get USD 8 000 000 000. And this is just the crude oil. In addition, we get the different layers of daily turnover in the value-adding chain of tanker transport, refineries, and refined petroleum products sold at retail prices. (Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, asphalt, etc). In addition, you add the daily economic turnover of coal and gas with corresponding figures.  According to some sources, the global daily turnover of fossil fuel-related products is more than 200 billion dollars. Check for yourself: find the local liter price for diesel or petrol and multiply by 15 billion, and you will get a rough idea about global daily turnover.

The top highest oil producers and exporters belong to the superrich less than 1% class.  The 10 richest companies in the world, mostly oil companies, are all bigger economies than 180 countries. Arab-American oil company (Aramco) is assumed to be the world’s most valuable company, twice as wealthy as Exxon-Mobile and Apple. The combined wealth of Aramco and its partners (the gigantic oil companies from the oil cartel called “Seven Sisters“ or “Big oil”) is one of the biggest economies of the world, if not the biggest. – No wonder the oligarchs want to keep us all addicted.

Troll factories in Russia

Putin’s troll factories, such as “The Internet Research Agency” (IRA) with thousands of employees, constantly churn out false information to confuse, polarize, and deceive. Several Russian media such as Russia Today and Sputnik copy the IRA or get their “information” straight from Kreml. Numerous echo chambers in the West replicate and spread these false stories.

These Merchants of Doubt specialize in serving up stories from supposedly different points of view. They use many “sources” and insinuate the notion that the more sources, the better.
Source criticism with an assessment of the source’s reliability is of little interest.
A reader’s article in a local newspaper is just as good as a peer-reviewed scientific article in a scientific journal. A propaganda article or a video created by AI in Pravda or Russia Today is just as good as a serious article in Scientific American, Science, Nature, the New York Times or The Guardian.

When all sources are equally good or bad and all information is relativized, people become uncertain and paralyzed. The doubters win.

As a result, social media and other “alternative media” platforms are susceptible to embracing conspiracy theories, gaslighting, and polarizing attacks on democratic institutions. This concerted effort is part of the cyber or hybrid warfare that Putin is waging against the West. Many people outside Russia remain unaware that Putin is engaged in a hybrid war with them and naively consume vast amounts of manipulative information.

The trolls specialize in exploiting the relatively open free press and the freedom of expression, which are fundamental to democracies. Millions of people in the West have already fallen into the “rabbit holes” of “alternative realities”. They are at risk of becoming disoriented and brainwashed, making them easy targets for the fossil fuel trolls and their fascist ideology. Western “think tanks” like the well-known American “Heartland Institute,” “Heritage Foundation,” and the English “Global Warming Policy Foundation” may serve as examples of echo chambers.

Fox news – instructed from Saudi Arabia?

The Murdoch media empire is partially owned by the Islamist royal family of Saudi Arabia. This means that Fox News, the largest TV channel in the USA, serves as an important tool for the global fossil fuel lobby and may partly also function as a PR channel for Wahhabism. These connections shed light on the seemingly unusual but close relations between Putin, Trump, and Muhamed bin Salman. It also explains why Putin, despite his apparently strong anti-Muslim stance, has good relations with the Islamist regime in Iran and with the corresponding regime in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the shared interests of the global fossil fuel oligarchs take precedence over all other considerations. This backdrop also helps to explain the increasing convergence of opinions between Trump’s supporters in Mid-West evangelical churches and Islamist Wahhabism. Additionally, it sheds light on the close ties between the evangelicals and the Russian ultra-Orthodox church, led by Patriarch Kirill and Alexandr Dugin (also known as “Putin’s brain”), and similar ideologies.

The troll farms success stories

Putin’s troll farms are tasked with prolonging the fossil fuel era for as many years as possible, enriching the oligarchs, and instilling mistrust against democratic institutions in the West. In many ways, they seem to have succeeded. They follow the old concept of “Split and rule”. It is easier to handle smaller groups than big unions. They have managed to weaken international efforts to establish common rules and regulations, such as those set by the United Nations. They have also normalized the political extreme right, with their anti-globalist, anti-academic, pro-nationalistic, patriarchal narratives and hate-speech against minorities. Additionally, they have polarized and normalized hate speech against democratic institutions and all kinds of minorities in social media, making extreme conspiracy theories acceptable expressions of opinion. Their influence has extended to public opinion in the USA, leading to the election of a populist oligarch as president; and in the UK, contributing to the Brexit outcome. The main task for Putin’s trolls during the coming months will be to help reinstalling oligarch Trump as the US president.

Migrant push factors: Petro tyrannies and global heating

Furthermore, ultraright Putin supporters in the EU appear to be increasing in number, while the extreme left in Europe argues for understanding Putin’s actions. Ironically, the proclaimed anti-Muslim ultraright in Europe inadvertently strengthens the oil-dependent Islamist regimes and others of the world’s main oil exporters in OPEC, as they prolong the fossil fuel era. The two main migrant push factors are the oppressive petro-tyrannies and global heating. Wahhabism and ”ayatollaism” are unbearable to many. The additional strain of mortal heat domes, droughts, and flashfloods over the Middle East and Sahel regions have made the extremely hazardous journeys in small boats and canoes over the Mediterranean Sea and the dire straits between Africa and the Canary Islands appear attractive. Perhaps there is a logic in it after all: the Ultra-right leaders understand that they depend on increased immigration from Africa and Asia to gain more votes. The ultra-right grows with more immigrants.

Try to imagine 30-40 desperate persons in each of these “canoes”, traveling over rough seas for 10 days or more, going from West Africa to the Canary Islands. Between 10-20% never reach. Here are some of the boats in Arguineguin harbor. Photo: A. Bjorke

War crimes and genocides

The largest and arguably most aggressive imperialist country in the world today is Russia. War crimes and genocides are unfortunately common occurrences, and more the rule rather than exceptions. Its economy lacks innovation and relies heavily on fossil fuels, making it vulnerable to collapse. This dependence on fossil fuels is also observed in other major oil-exporting countries in the Middle East. The powerful fossil fuel industry is aware of this and invests substantially in creating doubt and obstacles to prolong the era of oil. Although the fossil fuel industry is in decline, a few more years of operation could yield substantial profits for a select few.
One important factor behind all recent wars is oil. The wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza are no exceptions in this regard.

The five stages of denial

The arguments propagated by the fossil fuel lobby typically progress through five stages:

1. Denial of the issue

2. Attribution of the issue to natural causes rather than human activity

3. Assertion that increased CO2 levels have positive effects and minimal impact on climate

4. Claiming that the transition to renewable energy is costly and unfeasible

5. Advocating inaction by asserting that it is too late to address the issue

Unfortunately, if action is not taken promptly, catastrophic climate change could result in devastating consequences such as mass displacement and migration, severe weather events, and loss of life, while the wealthy shelter themselves in secure sanctuaries. The world’s oligarchs, comprising less than 1% of the global population, already wield control over half of the world’s wealth and are seeking to increase their influence further.

Resist the fossil fuel oligarchs:

1. Abolish fossil fuel subsidies and other public support for fossil energy. Introduce a progressive carbon tax on all fossil energy, and distribute it equally among all citizens.

2. Divest from fossil energy and promote new green technologies. Ensure massive adoption of renewable energy sources and prioritize non-fossil fuel jobs.

3. Aim for energy democracy by transitioning to 100% renewable energy produced and owned by local communities within the next 20 years. Decentralized energy production provides better crisis preparedness.

4. Provide free high-quality education for all. Make education a joyful, motivating process that values collaboration, creativity, research, critical information literacy, discovery, and real competence. Democracy, ecology, equality and human rights must be given priority. Encourage lifelong learning and increase outdoor nature education for children and society’s engagement in appreciating nature.

5. Further reduce fertility rates by ensuring access to education and voluntary family-planning services for women and men.

6. Give priority to investments in sectors that improve the quality of life and create more caring societies. Regulate enterprises and economic activities to ensure a circular economy and the protection of ecosystems. Encourage international cooperation, rules, laws, regulations, and standards.

7. Establish and develop well-funded and well-managed reserves for a significant proportion of the world’s terrestrial, marine, freshwater, and aerial habitats.

8. Prioritize public transport using renewable energy, reduce the number of travels, pay CO2 compensation when flying, reduce the use of plastic, and promote dietary shifts towards mostly plant-based foods.

9. Abolish tax havens and prosecute tax evaders who steal from society.

10. Strictly regulate the commons on land, air, and waters. Individuals have no right to exploit, pollute, or destroy what is owned by the community.

11. Reduce tax on labor and increase tax on consumption, property, financial transactions, fortunes, land, and use of commons such as air, water, soil, minerals, and other raw materials that deplete ecosystems.

12. Ensure equal treatment under the law for all human beings. Justice for all must prevail, and corporations cannot have human rights.

13. Uphold the subsidiary principle and ensure that decisions are taken at the most appropriate, lowest levels. Democratize and decentralize power and ensure everyone has equal access to relevant information.

14. Encourage ecologically responsible and regenerative agricultural systems.

15. Promote genuine corporate social and environmental responsibility and prioritize the environment and society over profit. Internalize economic externalities and make the producer responsible for negative environmental and social side-effects of production and products.

16. Governments must base their decisions on honestly made judgments supported by evidence. Governments should be responsible, accountable, predictable, and transparent.


References

Unknown's avatar

About svenaake

University Teacher.
This entry was posted in Denialism, Environment, Fossil fuels and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment