Oil and gas companies are under fire once again for misleading advertising, in which the companies are accused of greenwashing their investments in energy sources that produce planet-warming gases while touting carbon solutions that have a questionable impact on the climate.
According to a report from Ellen Ormesher of DeSmog, Exxon Mobil has released ads touting their carbon capture efforts and a push for green energy from hydrogen, with no mention of how much of their money is put toward oil and gas technology.
Ormesher details that while Exxon and other companies love to tout their investment in carbon capture technology, in which the planet-warming gas is trapped underground through various means, it may not make a significant impact in the fight against our heating planet. Current carbon capture technology only cleans about 0.14 percent of annual global carbon pollution.
Ormesher also notes that these companies tout this technology while continuing to invest massively in the development of oil and gas resources.
"Choosing to spend sizable marketing budgets on greenwashing narratives, like celebrating false solutions, marks a shift in what fossil fuel companies believe is appropriate communications," said Sean Buchan, a lead researcher at the Climate Action Against Disinformation research and advocacy group.
The report also notes that the ad campaigns are designed to make carbon capture technology more accessible to the public, despite knowing since at least 2018 that carbon capture might not work at the scale they would need for it to be successful.
"If I had a penny for every time they used the phrase 'bridging the knowledge gap'...," said an ad industry designer who requested not to be named.
This isn't the first criticism these companies have faced for misleading ads. Shell is facing multiple complaints in the U.K. for their misleading set of ads about their own climate programs.
Meanwhile, Chevron has hired two lobbyists who previously worked for Oregon cities impacted by our changing climate, drawing their own greenwashing accusations, while Santos is facing a lawsuit for greenwashing of their own.
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There is hope, as Ormesher points out. Cities in Canada have begun to push back against oil and gas advertising on city buses and in public places, and there are laws that fine ad agencies up to $10 million for misleading advertisements.
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