"First they know, then they scheme, then they deny & then they delay" - I speak to @guardian's @olliemilman about how, as with climate change, Big Oil secretly pioneered the science of fossil fuelled-air pollution decades ago...then publicly attacked it.https://t.co/3AKIxPv3zD
— Geoffrey Supran (@GeoffreySupran) March 18, 2021
The oil industry knew at least 50 years ago that air pollution from burning fossil fuels posed serious risks to human health, only to spend decades aggressively lobbying against clean air regulations, a trove of internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.
The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large amounts of air pollution, that pollutants could lodge deep in the lungs and be “real villains in health effects”, and even that its own workers may be experiencing birth defects among their children.
But these concerns did little to stop oil and gas companies, and their proxies, spreading doubt about the growing body of science linking the burning of fossil fuels to an array of health problems that kill millions of people around the world each year.
Geoffrey Supran, a researcher at Harvard University who has studied the history of fossil-fuel companies and climate change, said:
The response from fossil-fuel interests has been from the same playbook – first they know, then they scheme, then they deny and then they delay. They’ve fallen back on delay, subtle forms of propaganda and the undermining of regulation.
Of course, this has nothing to do with LafargeHolcim. The world's largest cement company – parent of Aggregate Industries – claims it’s keen to clean up its game. So keen in fact, that who do we find in the role of Chief Sustainability Officer, now with added responsibility? Why, a professional with 27 years experience in the oil and gas industry of course. Surprised? Did anyone really think LafargeHolcim was serious about the climate emergency?
LafargeHolcim announces the expansion of Magali Anderson’s role to Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, effective March 2021, putting sustainability at the core of its innovation pipeline 👇https://t.co/qbPR3EPwnd#LafargeHolcimSustainability#LafargeHolcimInnovation pic.twitter.com/7UJfJhImKo
— LafargeHolcim (@LafargeHolcim) March 18, 2021
