Hearts and Minds: Big Oil in the Classroom
How the fossil fuel industry is shaping school curriculums to create doubt about climate change, its causes, the science and solutions.
Oil and gas bosses have known exactly what climate change is, its relationship to their product and exactly how dire it would all get for going on 50 years now, at a minimum. Also well established and irrefutable during this time was their collective organized response, which was to first deny climate change itself, create doubt around the science (just like tobacco companies did with lung cancer & cigarettes), slow walk the solutions and create doubt around them as well, shift the blame to the individual and pretend to be partners in working to fix climate change while making everything even worse and raking in record profits while they do it. It's bad enough they did it to the rest of us for so long but a new report entitled "Polluting Education - the Influence of Fossil Fuels on Children;s education in Canada" reveals that oil and gas companies have been applying these very same tactics to school children across Canada who may not yet have the tools to critically assess them for what they are, many of whom would have never even heard of let alone understood words like indoctrination, disinformation and propaganda. With us today is report co-author, independent researcher and climate activist in Toronto Anne Keary, Retired Alberta science teacher Tylene Appel and For Our Kids activist (which is a parent-led climate change advocacy organization) and longtime Hub friend Claire Kraatz.
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Sources used in this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JFcPxMwjUAeBBuR4McExSACuDMoxkdZKiXdoGMz5RIk/
Transcript of the episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z-1mQT8qtpd05zfROzi1sxyKV5-LNOyExu4mBpBNpKg/
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The Influence of Fossil Fuels on Children’s Education in Canada: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/forourkids/pages/2782/attachments/original/1739848766/PollutingEducation_ReportSummary.pdf?1739848766
Anne Keary: https://www.eeon.org/anne-keary
Claire Kraatz: https://x.com/Claire_Kraatz
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If you appreciate what we're doing here at the Climate Lens one way you could help out is become a member of our Patreon for just 5 bucks a month at https://www.patreon.com/TheClimateLens or make a one time donation via the Calgary Climate Hub website at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/92219
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Calgary Climate Hub
Website: https://www.calgaryclimatehub.ca
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Volunteer! https://www.calgaryclimatehub.ca/volunteer
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Oil and gas bosses have known exactly what climate change is, its relationship to their product and exactly how dire it would all get for going on 50 years now, at a minimum. Also well established and irrefutable during this time was their collective organized response, which was to first deny climate change itself, create doubt around the science (just like tobacco companies did with lung cancer & cigarettes), slow walk the solutions and create doubt around them as well, shift the blame to the individual and pretend to be partners in working to fix climate change while making everything even worse and raking in record profits while they do it. It's bad enough they did it to the rest of us for so long but a new report entitled "Polluting Education - the Influence of Fossil Fuels on Children;s education in Canada" reveals that oil and gas companies have been applying these very same tactics to school children across Canada who may not yet have the tools to critically assess them for what they are, many of whom would have never even heard of let alone understood words like indoctrination, disinformation and propaganda. With us today is report co-author, independent researcher and climate activist in Toronto Anne Keary, Retired Alberta science teacher Tylene Appel and For Our Kids activist (which is a parent-led climate change advocacy organization) and longtime Hub friend Claire Kraatz.
*****
Sources used in this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JFcPxMwjUAeBBuR4McExSACuDMoxkdZKiXdoGMz5RIk/
Transcript of the episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z-1mQT8qtpd05zfROzi1sxyKV5-LNOyExu4mBpBNpKg/
*****
The Influence of Fossil Fuels on Children’s Education in Canada: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/forourkids/pages/2782/attachments/original/1739848766/PollutingEducation_ReportSummary.pdf?1739848766
Anne Keary: https://www.eeon.org/anne-keary
Claire Kraatz: https://x.com/Claire_Kraatz
*****
If you appreciate what we're doing here at the Climate Lens one way you could help out is become a member of our Patreon for just 5 bucks a month at https://www.patreon.com/TheClimateLens or make a one time donation via the Calgary Climate Hub website at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/92219
****
Calgary Climate Hub
Website: https://www.calgaryclimatehub.ca
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/climatehubyyc.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://campaign.openworlds.info/@ClimateHubYYC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calgaryclimatehub/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calgaryclimatehub/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@calgaryclimatehub
Volunteer! https://www.calgaryclimatehub.ca/volunteer
Become a Member! https://www.calgaryclimatehub.ca/membership
- alberta
- canada
- oil and gas
- oil
- fossil fuel
- education
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