3
climate change communications [2]. At MIT, we are currently conducting a
meta-analysis of decarbonization scenarios through historical benchmarking.
At Harvard, we continue to study the history of climate science
disinformation by the fossil fuel industry, and also recently won a Harvard
Climate Change Solutions Grant to co-author a science-based fiction book
envisioning a fossil fuel-free future.
My research and organizing have been covered by major news outlets
including CNN, PBS, NPR, ABC, CNBC, The New York Times, The LA
Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, The
Guardian, Bloomberg, Scientific American, Nature, Science, Mashable,
Grist, Vox, VICE, BuzzFeed, and many others.
Q2: Are you familiar with the Petition filed by Greenpeace Southeast Asia
(Philippines), along with thirteen (13) non-profit organizations and
eighteen (18) individuals, before the Philippine Commission on Human
Rights requesting for an investigation of the Carbon Majors for human
rights violations or threats thereof resulting from the impacts of climate
change?
A2: Yes, I am familiar with the Petition.
Q3: How did you become familiar with said Petition?
A3: Originally, by way of public news coverage. More recently, by reading the
Petition itself and through conversations with the petitioners and legal
representatives listed in the preamble to this Profile and Statement.
Q4: Given your background, what can you say about the Petition, if any?
A4: As a scholar who studies the history of climate science disinformation by the
fossil fuel industry, I can speak to and support – with documentation
evidencing both broad trends and specific examples – the Petition’s
contention that “there are examples of fossil fuel companies, either directly
or through trade associations, actively preventing action on climate change
and renewable energy solutions by undermining the science and running
campaigns aimed to confuse the public…similar to the tactics employed by
the tobacco industry.” Specifically, my research and detailed familiarity with
ExxonMobil’s history of climate change communications enable me to
speak to and support the Petition’s contention that “Exxon and others have
known about threats of climate change for decades, yet there are examples of
members of the fossil fuel industry engaging in activities that undermine
climate science and action.”
Additionally, as a scholar who studies scenarios for decarbonization, I can
offer my opinion on the global significance of the Petition as a means for
helping to build the legal and sociopolitical momentum necessary for
achieving meaningful supply-side action on climate change.
Q5: Can you please summarize the article or study you co-authored with
Naomi
Oreskes,
“Assessing
ExxonMobil’s
climate
change
communications (1977–2014)”?