{"id":49328,"date":"2021-09-06T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T14:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=49328"},"modified":"2021-09-07T11:09:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T09:09:33","slug":"break-fossil-fuel-soft-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/49328\/break-fossil-fuel-soft-power\/","title":{"rendered":"We must break the soft power of the fossil fuel industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For decades, oil, coal and gas companies have, with impunity, manipulated all the levers of influence they could to convince us of the necessity of their climate-wrecking economic model. This is known as soft power.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

As opposed to hard power, soft power is a more insidious way to impose dominance. This is not about winning the game through force but changing the rules because you\u2019ve made yourself the referee. It\u2019s about political coercion, social manipulation<\/a>, and cultural appropriation.<\/p>\n\n

The fossil fuel industry has spent billions to control the climate change conversation<\/a>. Today they are trying to rebrand themselves<\/a> as part of the solution to the climate crisis, crisis they are responsible for causing. This power goes beyond their influence over lawmakers and public policy<\/a>, it is about perpetuating their social license to continue business as usual. The presence of the fossil fuel industry is a pervasive part of our daily lives.<\/p>\n\n

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Have you listened to #DrilledPodcast<\/a> Season 3 yet? We\u2019re digging into the history of fossil fuel propaganda and the people who shaped it. This week: Herb Schmertz, who ran PR for Mobil and became a master of media manipulation. Listen at https:\/\/t.co\/qaIW6sh0Q9<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nCyWkkdIyg<\/a><\/p>— Drilled (@WeAreDrilled) February 8, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>