The language of late fossil capital

Abstract

This essay studies the propaganda language of contemporary – or late – fossil capital. Whereas the traditional understanding of propaganda focuses on the dissemination of information (or disinformation) in order to promote a political cause or ideology, I argue that the main form and vehicle of propaganda for late fossil capital is the massive use of terms and tropes, together with particular rhetorical devices, for example, the interpellation of the individual consumer as responsible for mitigating climate change. The essay studies the language of fossil capital based primarily on marketing material by fossil fuel companies, in the US and other Western countries, such as advertising and advertorials, current and archived websites, social media, corporate sustainability reports, as well as material produced by industry organisation such as the American Petroleum Institute and the Heartland Institute. A large part of the material is taken from two North American legal complaints, Connecticut v. Exxon Mobil Corporation (2020) and City of New York v. Exxon Mobil Corp. et al. (2021).

The impact of information disorder on deliberative process

“…Despite 97% of climate scientists worldwide asserting that global warming not only exists but is accelerated by human actions (Cook et al, 2016;Green et al, 2022), skepticism regarding climate change is present in almost every country, followed by disinformation and conspiracy theories (Dahlberg, 2023;Daume et al, 2023;Ejaz, Ittefaq, et al, 2022;Ejaz, Mukherjee, et al, 2022;Fernández-Castrillo & Magallón-Rosa, 2023;Schmid-Petri & Bürger, 2022;Schubatzky & Haagen-Schützenhöfer, 2022;Silva, 2022;Woodley, Barr, Stott, Thomet, Flint, Lovell, O'malley, et al, 2022). On digital platforms, discussions about climate change occur in an environment of polarization, echo chambers, and disinformation, negatively impacting public discourse and leading to civic inaction and rejection of public mitigation policies (Treen et al, 2022).…”

“…Research also demonstrates that factors such as political ideologies, level of education, country of origin, community involvement, and media literacy influence decision-making on climate change (Cremades & Stella, 2022;Dahlberg, 2023;Davis & Lewandowsky, 2022;Hassan et al, 2022;Jylhä et al, 2022;Morote Seguido, 2023;Sill et al, 2023;Silva, 2022;Tillery & Bloomfield, 2022;Villagra et al, 2023;Woodley et al, 2022). In Spain, Fernández-Castrillo & Magallón-Rosa (2023) analyzed patterns of misinformation verification and identified two predominant types of climate skepticism: epistemic and reactive.…”