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The big oil and gas companies like to present themselves as the solution to climate change, even as they’re leaning into more fossil fuel production and making record profits from it.
But while the public sees their optimistic ads promoting fuel-of-the-future projects like “blue hydrogen” (made with natural gas), these same companies are quietly pouring billions of dollars into industry groups that have worked for years to undermine pro-climate policies through advertising and lobbying.
Environmental policy scholars Christian Downie and Bob Brulle sorted through a decade of trade groups’ tax documents to see how these industry groups are deploying their cash and just how much more they’re spending compared with groups working in support of clean energy. The short answer: a lot.
Also today:
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Keeping oil and gas flowing.
Steve Chenn/The Image Bank via Getty Images
Christian Downie, Australian National University; Robert Brulle, Brown University
Researchers looked at a decade of political spending by the oil and gas industry and others engaged in climate policy. If money talks, one side had a giant megaphone.
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Science + Technology
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Zhihao Zhang, University of Virginia
How do you determine whether one brand is similar enough to another to infringe on its trademark? Researchers propose that comparing brain scans could be an option.
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Silas Laycock, UMass Lowell
An astronomer takes us on a tour of the universe to learn about the birth of stars and planets and how they get their spin.
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Education
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David L. Di Maria, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
An international education expert offers five tips for students planning to study overseas in a post-pandemic world.
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Health + Medicine
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Marc Cohen, UMass Boston; Jane Tavares, UMass Boston
A study of medical costs and income losses found that those who can least afford to pay for health care and miss out on their paychecks rack up the biggest bills.
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Ethics + Religion
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Eleni Bozia, University of Florida
Lucian’s work provides insight into the second-century Roman world, which fostered multilingualism and multiculturalism.
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Environment + Energy
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Matthew E. Kahn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Bhaskar Krishnamachari, University of Southern California
Even after January’s storms, California faces a water-scarce future. An economist and an engineer propose a way to test higher water prices as a conservation strategy without hurting low-income users.
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Arts + Culture
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Clare Davidson, Australian Catholic University
Today you are probably more likely to gift chocolates than fish.
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