Introduction
The Guardian has collaborated with leading scientists and NGOs to expose, with exclusive data, investigations and analysis, the fossil fuel companies that are perpetuating the climate crisis – some of which have accelerated their extraction of coal, oil and gas even as the devastating impact on the planet and humanity was becoming clear since the 1950s.The result of this work is the the "Polluters Project".
One aim of the project is to move the focus of debate from individual responsibilities to power structures. The financial, political and lobbying structures that let fossil fuel firms keep growing are investigated.
Another aim of the project is to press governments and corporations to close the gap between ambitious long-term promises and lacklustre short-term action. The UN says the coming decade is crucial if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of global heating. Reining in our dependence on fossil fuels and dramatically accelerating the transition to renewable energy has never been more urgent.
Task
Your task is to find out how and why fossil fuel companies try to influence media, politics, and public opinion.
The research conducted by the Guardian and affiliated scientists, synthesized in the "Polluters" Project, will help you to solve this task, but represents a subject for critical reflection and discussion itself at the same time.
The task is divided into three sub-tasks:
1) Audiovisual Comprehension Task (15 min)
2) Reading Comprehension and Analysis Task (30 min)
3) Reflection Task (20 min)
You will work on task 1) alone, but we will discuss your results in class afterwards.
Task 2) is group work and should result in some kind of digital or non-digital product (e.g. presentation, poster, mindmap); decide on which tool or technique you would like to use in your groups.
The last task, 3) Reflection, will take place as an in-class discussion, but can already be pre-discussed in your groups in case you finish task 2) faster.
Process
1) Audiovisual Comprehension Task
Please watch the following video:
Consider the following questions and take notes:
- "Just 20 fossil fuel companies are directly related to more than a third of the greenhouse gases." What is the consequence of this fact, according to the video?
- What did the President's Science Advisory Committee reveal in 1965?
- If fossil fuel companies know about climate change since the 1950s, why don't they take action to tackle this issue?
- Why and how do fossil fuel companies influence politics?
- According to the video, why do we have to talk about fossil fuel companies?
2) Reading Comprehension and Analysis Task
a) This timeline shows that industry, scientists, and politicians have been warned about the climate risks of burning fossile fuels for more than 50 years; yet, the top 20 fossil fuel firms have not taken action: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/09/half-century-dither-denial-climate-crisis-timeline
Who knew what when? Identify the strategies applied by companies to impact on politics.
b) You can find what some of the major oil, gas, and coal companies say in response to data revealing their responsibility for global emissions documented in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/climate-emergency-what-oil-gas-giants-say
What is striking about their utterances, both in terms of content and style? Do you think their statements and promises are credible, considering what you have found out in the former tasks?
3) Reflection Task
Reflect on the "Polluters" Project.
Does it meet the criteria of reliable sources we identified at the beginning of the lesson? Why, or why not?
What do you think about its methods? How about its aims?
Do you think the project's proclaimed goals can be reached?
Evaluation
Task 1) will be evaluated in an in-class discussion.
Your group's digital product is decisive for the evaluation of task 2). Due to time constraints, only one group will present their product, but each group will share their results with their peers so that they can assess their product based on its content (complete or something missing?) as well as its form and structure (appropriate choice of tool? clear and easy to follow?) after the lesson.
Task 3) will be evaluated in an in-class discussion.
Conclusion
At the end of the lesson, we will have learned some important truths about media, science, power, and even truth.
Apparently, no area of public life or society is void of interests and values, and this circumstance translates into politics and sciences as well as their media(ted) representation.
This is especially true for so-called Social Media, alternative sources of information particularly young people make heavy use of. Consequently, after having looked at the representation of the relation between fossil fuels and climate change in traditional and scientific sources in module A, and after having investigated how companies influence coverage of this issue in this module, we will turn to Social Media in the following module. How do content and form relate there, how do interests and ideology come into play, how do the very dynamics of the specific platform shape the representation of issues? We will try to address such questions in the next module.