Big Oil | Grist

Over a barrel

Exploring the extreme frontiers of oil drilling 2
Posted 1 month ago To witness firsthand the world’s most extreme drilling territory -- the Mount Everest of oil frontiers -- Amanda Little took a 175-mile helicopter trip to Chevron's "Cajun Express" oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. "I found the whole enterprise of deep-sea drilling doggedly ambitious, but also seemingly desperate—like an addict forcing a syringe into the earth’s innermost veins," she writes. Of course, the director of Chevron’s offshore drilling divisions sees it differently, as he explains while giving Little a tour of the rig. This is the second installment in a series of exclusive excerpts from "Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells—Our Ride to the Renewable Future."
the crude cost of fuel

Two new documentaries—‘Crude’ and ‘Fuel’—examine two sides of our petroleum problem 2
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Crude and Fuel, two new documentaries, show the damaging effects of the world's addiction to oil, each film from its own unique angle.
Lisa Murkowski’s bid to become a climate outlaw 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Why is Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) behaving like an outlaw?
Newly confirmed regulatory czar needs to close OIRA’s backdoor for special interests 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
After weeks of sustained attack from the right-wing on issues that are marginal to the job the President asked him to do, Cass Sunstein has emerged from the nomination process bloody but apparently unbowed.
POLLUTER FRAUD DU JOUR

Big Oil creates phony climate denial site, lies about it 5
Posted 2 months ago
A friend just alerted me to the website PlantsNeedCO2.org, which is running ads on NYTimes.com.
FAHRENTHOLD 451

Washington Post gives polluters a free pass on dirty money and lies 5
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
In today's Washington Post, David Fahrenthold's front-page story spends its first 15 paragraphs detailing Big Oil's massive campaign against clean energy while incredibly avoiding any mention of one little detail: money.
two faced

The Real FACES of Coal: Adfero’s shadowy GOP beltway astroturf operatives 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
A new “grassroots” fossil fuel front group, FACES of Coal, is employing a shadowy Republican-staffed company to spread its message.
Lobby horse

Majority of ‘Energy Citizens’ rallies organized by oil-industry lobbyists 6
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Most of the folks organizing "Energy Citizens" rallies against climate legislation all around the country also happen to be registered lobbyists for the oil industry.
Mission possible

Veterans push for climate bill with new ‘Operation Free’ coalition 1
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
A new coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is hoping to counter the oil industry–backed "Energy Citizens" rallies with its own call to pass a climate bill and end dependence on fossil fuels.
Man, or astroturf man?

Industry groups launch astroturf ‘Energy Citizens’ website 0
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The American Petroleum Institute has launched an "Energy Citizens" website to promote its anti–climate bill astroturfing efforts.
They were for it before they were against it

ConocoPhillips works to undermine climate bill, despite pledge to support climate action 4
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
ConocoPhillips is now actively campaigning against the House climate and energy bill -- even though it's a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an influential enviro-business coalition that played a key role in shaping the legislation.
Turf's up!

Astroturf wars continue as more info comes to light on ‘Energy Citizen’ rallies 4
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The American Petroleum Institute is urging member companies to recruit their employees, retirees, vendors, and contractors to attend "Energy Citizen" rallies across the country and fight against climate legislation. We've got updates to the story.
The grass is always greener when it's astroturf

Energy interests to fund ‘astroturfing’ efforts during congressional break 2
Posted 3 months ago
Coal, oil, and gas interests are pouring money into astroturfing programs to create the appearance of a "grassroots" anti-climate-bill movement.
Signed. Sealed. Will they deliver?

ForestEthics mails Fortune 500 companies to kick off tar-sands campaign 1
Posted 3 months ago
ForestEthics has mailed letters to more than 100 Fortune 500 companies, warning that their continued consumption of fuels from Canada’s tar sands—the world’s dirtiest oil—puts their brands at risk.
From the astroturfing files

What if climate groups copied dirty industry tactics…? 2
Posted 3 months ago
If Big Coal or Big Oil can pay to generate fake grassroots opposition to climate and energy legislation, couldn't green groups flip the tables and do the same?
Politics as usual

Larry Craig, oil lobbyist 0
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
This is an actual thing: Larry Craig, former punchline of Idaho, has opened a Washington consulting firm to work as an energy lobbyist.
You just can't teach an old petro-dog re-new-able tricks.

“Back to Petroleum”: BP shuts clean energy HQ, slashes renewables budget, dives into tar sands 4
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
BP has shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed budget cuts in moves likely to be seen by environmental critics as further signs of the oil group moving "back to petroleum".
Chevron agrees to lobby with Sierra Club to end coal subsidies 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Let's all go to the lobby

Dirty energy interests have spent $79 million this year lobbying Congress 2
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago
The oil, gas, and electricity sectors spent tens of millions more to lobby Congress in the first quarter of 2009 than their renewable-energy counterparts. Big whoop, right? Well, yes.
Just the (industry-sponsored) facts

Chevron hires former CNN correspondent to spin report on Amazon destruction 0
Posted 6 months ago
The New York Times has a great story about Chevron hiring a former CNN reporter to produce a "news" report to counter a 60 Minutes segment on the oil company's contamination of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.