Message From the Editor

A nonprofit advocacy group focused on improving oil and gas pipeline safety is raising concerns about public accountability and transparency in the wake of a major diesel spill in coastal Louisiana after it went unreported to the public for weeks. The absence of news about the spill prompted the Pipeline Safety Trust to issue a press release on January 11, noting that the spill resulted from a severely corroded pipeline awaiting repair which federal regulators had flagged more than a year earlier. Julie Dermansky has the story — and exclusive photos.

Other communities are concerned about possible oil spills, too. On January 4, thousands of people took to the streets of Mar del Plata, a coastal city roughly 250 miles south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were there to protest the plans by Norwegian oil company Equinor to begin offshore oil exploration later this year. The protesters oppose offshore drilling because of the risks of an oil spill, which could wreck tourism and interfere with fishing, two important parts of the coastal economy. They also fear that the seismic tests that accompany oil exploration would pose a mortal threat to southern right whales and could harm abundant marine life. Nick Cunningham reports for DeSmog .

And this week we launched Gaslit, a new regular column by Stella Levantesi that seeks to navigate society’s dysfunctional relationship with fossil fuel disinformation. For the first installment, Stella explores how the PR industry has helped Big Oil transform the way we think about the environment. Dive in here.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

P.S. We’re so grateful to everyone who donated to support DeSmog’s public interest journalism last year. We’re already turning your donations into new investigations, news, and research. If you’d like to help, can you donate $10 or $20 right now?

Pipeline Safety Advocates Say Government ‘Has Failed’ the Public in the Wake of a Coastal Louisiana Oil Spill

— By Julie Dermansky (8 min. read)—

A nonprofit advocacy group focused on improving oil and gas pipeline safety is raising concerns about public accountability and transparency in the wake of a major diesel spill in coastal Louisiana after it went unreported to the public for weeks, despite contaminating or killing thousands of fish and dozens of alligators, birds, and other wildlife. The absence of news about the spill prompted the Pipeline Safety Trust to issue a press release on January 11, noting that the spill resulted from a severely corroded pipeline awaiting repair which federal regulators had flagged more than a year earlier.

“I would like the public to know that the system has failed them in this case,” Bill Caram, the trust’s executive director, said by email.

Protests Erupt in Argentina Over Plan for Offshore Oil Drilling

— By Nick Cunningham (9 min. read)—

On January 4, thousands of people took to the streets of Mar del Plata, a coastal city roughly 250 miles south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were there to protest the plans by Norwegian oil company Equinor to begin offshore oil exploration later this year.

They held signs that read “the sea is ours!” and “an ocean free of oil,” and they chanted, shouted, and sang. The protests were focused in Mar del Plata, a beach town closest to the offshore blocks, but spread to other cities in the province and around the country.

How the PR Industry Has Helped Big Oil Transform the Way We Think About the Environment

— By Stella Levantesi (7 min. read) —

Since 2008, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is the U.S.’s largest oil and gas trade group, has paid the world’s largest PR firm, Edelman, $439.7 million. API isn’t the only group in the oil and gas sector to have paid a PR firm for its services. And Edelman isn’t the only PR firm to have received money from the oil and gas sector.

For decades, fossil fuel companies have been using PR firms to polish, reinvent, and fabricate their image; protect their reputation; and greenwash their activities, in ways that we are still trying to fully understand.

Lobbyist Behind The Sun’s Petrol Car Ban Survey Admits He Used ‘Loaded’ Question

— By Adam Barnett (3 min. read)—

A survey supposedly showing public opposition to the government’s plans to phase out petrol and diesel cars was carried out by a motoring lobbyist who admits he “doesn’t care” that the poll involved a “loaded” question.

The Sun reported on Saturday that “fuming voters” oppose the UK’s 2030 ban on new fossil fuel-powered cars, with three in five people saying they would not vote for an MP who supports it.

Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto. In a January 25 appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Peterson argued that “there’s no such thing as ‘climate'” because “‘climate’ and ‘everything’ are the same word,” and that climate models are inaccurate because they are “not based on everything” He added that “as you stretch out the [climate] models across time, the errors increase radically” and that models cannot be used to predict future climates because “the [prediction] errors compound, just like interest, and so at some point [the model is] all error”

Read the full profileand browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database