4 ms·

Can you explain how this is analogous to oil and gas? Not sure I am there.

by whall6 3y ago

digdugdirk 3y ago
Oil and gas companies knew that their product would cause large scale global climate impacts half a century ago. They suppressed that information, and then proceeded to go the extra step and create the current "climate change isn't real" worldview through a carefully planned and executed influence campaign. It's a remarkably effective strategy that appears all over different industries, including tech. Keep an eye out for large political battles, and wishy-washy scientific studies funded by the industry that profits off the issue at hand.
- mikeiz404 3y ago
  If someone is looking for sources, this article goes into great detail though it is extremely long but worth the read. Other publications have posted similar stories. https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/ https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-b... Ground water and soil contamination is just one source of exposure. EWG has created an interactive map of the US which tracks this. https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/ https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/
- fallingknife 3y ago
  Other people besides oil companies knew 50 years ago too, so this is hardly relevant. Nothing would have changed if they had made this public. Hell, we all know now and still aren't doing much. This whole conspiracy theory is just cope from people who won't admit that it is us and our oil consumption that is the problem and the companies are just there to give us what we want.
  - int_19h 3y ago
    We aren't doing nearly as much as we should be, but we're certainly doing something - and at time spans like 50 years, said "something" can compound quite significantly. Even if we've ultimately had the same discussion about climate that we ended up having today, but several decades earlier, that would already be a fairly big improvement in the current state of affairs. You also completely ignore the other, and arguably more important, part where those companies didn't just bury the research - no, they knowingly developed highly effective agitprop, often intentionally disguised as science, to blunt the public reaction when the story eventually broke for the general public. They have straight up bought politicians to peddle said agitprop, too.
  - digdugdirk 3y ago
    It's the difference between your car's brakes failing and you plowing through a crosswalk and tragically killing a pedestrian, and being a serial killer. Intentionality is key, and ExxonMobil is a highly profitable psychopath in this regard.

Can you explain how this is analogous to oil and gas? Not sure I am there.

by whall6 3y ago

Can you explain how this is analogous to oil and gas? Not sure I am there.

Oil and gas companies knew that their product would cause large scale global climate impacts half a century ago. They suppressed that information, and then proceeded to go the extra step and create the current "climate change isn't real" worldview through a carefully planned and executed influence campaign. It's a remarkably effective strategy that appears all over different industries, including tech. Keep an eye out for large political battles, and wishy-washy scientific studies funded by the industry that profits off the issue at hand.

mikeiz404 3y ago
If someone is looking for sources, this article goes into great detail though it is extremely long but worth the read. Other publications have posted similar stories. https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/ https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-b... Ground water and soil contamination is just one source of exposure. EWG has created an interactive map of the US which tracks this. https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/ https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/map/
fallingknife 3y ago
Other people besides oil companies knew 50 years ago too, so this is hardly relevant. Nothing would have changed if they had made this public. Hell, we all know now and still aren't doing much. This whole conspiracy theory is just cope from people who won't admit that it is us and our oil consumption that is the problem and the companies are just there to give us what we want.
- int_19h 3y ago
  We aren't doing nearly as much as we should be, but we're certainly doing something - and at time spans like 50 years, said "something" can compound quite significantly. Even if we've ultimately had the same discussion about climate that we ended up having today, but several decades earlier, that would already be a fairly big improvement in the current state of affairs. You also completely ignore the other, and arguably more important, part where those companies didn't just bury the research - no, they knowingly developed highly effective agitprop, often intentionally disguised as science, to blunt the public reaction when the story eventually broke for the general public. They have straight up bought politicians to peddle said agitprop, too.
- digdugdirk 3y ago
  It's the difference between your car's brakes failing and you plowing through a crosswalk and tragically killing a pedestrian, and being a serial killer. Intentionality is key, and ExxonMobil is a highly profitable psychopath in this regard.