Fossil fuel industry digs deep to confuse climate change conversation

John Cook -  A Climate
Communication Research
 Fellow from the
 Global Change Institute
 at The
University of Queensland.

The fossil fuel industry has spent many millions of dollars on confusing the public about climate change. But the role of vested interests in climate science denial is only half the picture.

Interest in this topic has spiked with the latest revelation regarding coalmining company Peabody Energy. After Peabody filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, documentation became available revealing the scope of Peabody’s funding to third parties. The list of funding recipients includes trade associations, lobby groups and climate-contrarian scientists.

This latest revelation is significant because in recent years, fossil fuel companies have become more careful to cover their tracks. An analysis by Robert Brulle found that from 2003 to 2010, organisations promoting climate misinformation received more than US$900 million of corporate funding per year.

Read the piece on The Conversation by the Climate Communication Research Fellow from the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland, John Cook - “A brief history of fossil-fuelled climate denial.”