Many aware of climate change science and the (mounting) risks of climate catastrophe have long analogized the situation to World War II mobilization — in expressing the scale of the challenge, that the United States (and humanity) has the ability to rise to a challenge of such scale, and the level of existential threat that climate chaos creates for modern human civilization (if not humanity, itself). Those promoting worsening our climate risks, through denial of science and promotion of fossil fuels, have also resorted to such war analogies in their fights to maintain profitability at the expense of ecological catastrophe. This occurs, in part, when truth-wielding activism begins to have an impact on eco-system havoc wreaking profitability. A recent example comes from Alberta, Canada, as the newly-elected right-wing United Conservative Party (UCP) government seeks to boost investment in and profitability of highly-polluting tar sands facilities.
The Alberta government has dedicated 30 million dollars (Canadian) in an “Energy War Room” to (in a paraphrase of Premier Jason Kenney) engage in “a sustained campaign of defamation and disinformation” to promote climate-busting tar sands production. As if Exxon Mobil and other fossil fuel Dark Money hasn’t been enough, this is an explicit deployment of public funds to distort public understanding of climate science, the implications of burning fossil fuels, the mounting (and ever-more evident) climate crisis implications, and the viability of paths to reduce global economic dependence on polluting fuels.
Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada said “shooting the messenger” about the challenges of climate change won’t make these difficult issues go away.
“This is a campaign about trying to intimidate and silence critics,” he said.
There are plenty of struggles to be waged over Canadian energy projects in the coming years.
The war room just adds another flashpoint — and another player — to the battlefield.
As global advertising (revenue) and Russian efforts to get Trump elected show clearly, investing in strategic influence efforts can pay off — massively — even if the ‘pay off’ is negative for most of humanity. That is the UCP desire with the Energy War Room. To have an outsized impact on support for polluting energy no matter the actual implications of that pollution.
“What we have heard from the premier today is beginning of a partisan plan to pit the economy against the environment,” Irfan Sabir said in a statement. “This is a recipe for disaster.”
As per Greenpeace Canada,
“Shooting the messenger might make for great election campaign rhetoric, but ignoring inconvenient truths does nothing to prepare Alberta for the coming transition off of fossil fuels,”
The UCP-led Alberta government isn’t planning to rely solely on a disinformation Energy War Room, but will leverage other government tools to impede those seeking to “prepare Alberta for the coming transition off of fossil fuels” including aggressive public inquiries and litigation.
In Alberta, polluting industry holds an outsized role in the overall economy. Whether accurate or not, UCP’s Kenney constantly asserts that tar sands “is the source of about one-third of the jobs in this province, directly and indirectly”. Dismantling the previous NDP administration’s policies to turn Alberta and Alberta’s economy on a path toward greater economic prosperity in a carbon-constrained future (a carbon tax, Climate Leadership Plan, …) was a core element of the UCP campaign and driving fears with disinformation about these clearly played a role in the UCP’s victory (which occurred amid economic challenges that had more to do with global energy shifts than NDP policies). The $CAN30M (and potentially to grow) investment of public funds in a fossil-foolish “Energy War Room” will raise even further that disinformation and undermine not just Alberta’s path toward future economic prosperity and surety but undermine the potential for successful global climate action as well.