Analysis | Oil companies are hiring TikTok influencers to court young people - The Washington Post

Oil companies are hiring TikTok influencers to court young people - The Washington Post

Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! Today we learned that a baby porcupine is called a porcupette and it’s adorable.

Why the oil giant Shell enlisted a ‘granfluencer’

The TikTok star Nora Capistrano Sangalang is best known for posting videos about her grandson, in which she describes herself as “our Filipino grandma” and a “granfluencer.”

But in September, she posted something that surprised and irritated some of her 2.3 million followers across TikTok and Instagram: an advertisement for the oil giant Shell’s fuel rewards program.

“I love your account and you make me laugh a lot,” one fan commented. “I can’t imagine that you would partner with a company that … contributes significantly to climate change. This is really a very bad image.”

Sangalang, who also goes by “Mama Nora,” is not alone. She is one of more than 100 influencers who have used their platforms to promote fossil fuel companies since 2017, reaching billions of people around the globe, according to new research by DeSmog, an investigative climate website.

Oil companies have turned to TikTok, which more than two-thirds of American teens report using, as surveys show young people are increasingly concerned about climate change.

“They are trying to win the trust of a younger generation,” said Sam Bright, DeSmog’s U.K. deputy editor. “They’re not just promoting a particular product, but trying to alter their perception in the public eye and maintain their social license.”

Youth climate activists have also taken to TikTok to mobilize against fossil fuels. In March, the hashtag #StopWillow became a trending topic on TikTok, as young environmentalists tried to stop ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil project in Alaska. (The Biden administration ultimately approved the project.)

Asked for comment, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in an email: “People are well aware that Shell produces oil and gas they depend on every day. Many don’t know we are also, in a disciplined way, investing billions in low-carbon solutions and products in support of a balanced energy transition. Making customers aware of those products by way of advertising on social media is one way we pursue business performance and a valid part of our marketing activities.”

Sangalang did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other examples

DeSmog also found that Conoco, a fuel brand that split from ConocoPhillips a decade ago, paid a nail artist and content creator named Lizzy to post sponsored videos last year. The videos received more than a million views across TikTok and Instagram, where she has a combined 660,000 followers.

Conoco and Lizzy, who doesn’t disclose her last name, did not respond to requests for comment.

In another example that wasn’t included in the DeSmog research, the influencer Brooke Scheurn posted a video last year promoting ExxonMobil’s fuel rewards program. Scheurn says in the video that the program is convenient for her as a pregnant mother.

It could not be learned whether Exxon compensated Scheurn for the video, which is not classified as an ad or paid partnership. The Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to disclose if they have a “material connection” to a brand they are endorsing, including if they have received free or discounted products or services.

Asked for comment, Exxon spokeswoman Julie L. King said in an email: “ExxonMobil, like many companies, works with influencers to educate consumers about the full benefits of our rewards program. As a matter of practice, we do not comment on our commercial arrangements.”

Scheurn did not respond to a request for comment.

The role of PR firms

Surveys consistently show young people are more concerned about climate change and fossil fuels’ role in causing it. Among Americans ages 18 to 29, 48 percent say the United States should phase out fossil fuels and exclusively use renewable energy, compared with 20 percent of Americans 65 and older, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

To help sway young people on social media, fossil fuel companies have enlisted some of America’s most prominent public relations firms, according to DeSmog and other sources.

Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, boasts on its website about a 2017 campaign for Shell aimed at changing millennials’ minds about the brand.

“The company tasked Edelman with the job of giving millennials a reason to connect emotionally with Shell’s commitment to a sustainable future,” the site says. “We needed them to forget their prejudices about ‘big oil’ and think differently about Shell.”

It’s unclear whether Edelman was involved in Shell’s decision to work with Sangalang, the “granfluencer.” Edelman spokesman Michael Bush declined to comment for this report, while Curtis, the Shell spokesman, was not immediately able to verify the company’s involvement.

In recent years, Edelman has faced mounting criticism from climate activists over its work with fossil fuel industry clients, including Exxon and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. Last year, more than 450 scientists called on Edelman and other PR firms to drop their campaigns for these companies, saying they “represent one of the biggest barriers” to climate action globally.

“All greenwashing starts with a PR agency,” said Tolmeia Gregory, a campaigner with Clean Creatives, a group pressuring PR agencies to quit fossil fuels. “They are responsible for it because the brands come to them with creative ideas.”

Rejected requests

Some climate-conscious bloggers say they have rejected oil companies’ advances.

Francesca Willow, who runs a blog about sustainability and racial justice called “Ethical Unicorn,” said she received a request in May to publish a guest post by Pheasant Energy, an oil and gas company based in Fort Worth.

Willow declined the request, citing the International Energy Agency’s finding that there can be no new oil, gas and coal development if humanity wants to prevent dangerous global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

“I do not work with oil and gas companies unless you are actively closing all fossil fuel projects and pursuing a just transition to renewables asap,” she wrote. “The International Energy Agency has been clear on the need for a transition away from oil and gas. Please act accordingly.”

Agency alert

EPA enforcement chief to prioritize climate, PFAS, staffing

The Environmental Protection Agency today announced its enforcement priorities for 2024 through 2027, including for the first time initiatives to address climate change and “forever chemicals” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

The agency updates its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives every four years. In addition to addressing climate change and PFAS, the new initiatives include protecting Americans from toxic coal ash and curbing hazardous air pollution in overburdened communities. Environmental justice considerations will be embedded in every initiative.

The Climate 202 discussed the new priorities yesterday with David Uhlmann, whom the Senate confirmed last month to lead the EPA’s enforcement office, which is tasked with holding companies accountable when they violate the nation’s environmental laws.

Uhlmann said the increased focus on climate change could lead to stepped-up enforcement of methane emissions standards for oil and gas facilities, the nation’s second-biggest source of the potent greenhouse gas.

“The agency has developed a whole host of significant new rules to address climate change and to try to do what we can to limit its worst impacts,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the strength of our regulations is only as good as our willingness to enforce them.”

From 2010 to 2022, budget cuts caused the EPA to lose 950 enforcement positions, or 30 percent of its enforcement and compliance workforce. The agency’s number of criminal investigations and other enforcement metrics declined over this same period, according to data compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project.

Yet Uhlmann said the agency is on track to restore 300 of the lost positions this fiscal year, helping to reverse this decline. (He previously estimated the agency would restore 200 of these jobs during a June speech at the Federalist Society, although Uhlmann said that figure did not include additional positions under the Inflation Reduction Act.)

“Once we get people on board, it’s going to take time to train them and mentor them, and for them to start producing results,” Uhlmann said. “But I’m extremely optimistic about the future of enforcement at EPA.”

Extreme events

Hurricanes have become deadlier in recent decades, study shows

Hurricanes have become deadlier and have disproportionately affected the most socially vulnerable communities, according to a study released yesterday in the journal Science Advances, The Washington Post’s Kasha Patel reports.

From 1988 to 2019, Atlantic hurricanes caused nearly 20,000 direct and indirect deaths up to a month after the storms, the study found. Ninety percent of the deaths were in more socially vulnerable groups, including older adults and Indigenous, Black and Brown communities.

Robbie Parks, the lead author of the study and an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University, cited three factors that help explain the results. First, he said, climate change has caused hurricanes to more rapidly intensify. Second, more Americans are moving into hurricane zones. And last, many coastal communities are poorer and have fewer resources to recover.

In the atmosphere

The toxic aftermath of the Maui fires could last for years— Joshua Partlow, Scott Wilson and Dino Grandoni for The Post
Here’s where water is running out in the world — and why— Veronica Penney and John Muyskens for The Post
Hawaiian Electric knew wildfires were a rising threat, but waited years to act— Katherine Blunt, Dan Frosch and Jim Carlton for the Wall Street Journal
Utility lobby group taps Trump energy secretary as new president— Valerie Volcovici for Reuters
Why John Podesta thinks the Inflation Reduction Act is the next Obamacare— Zoya Teirstein and Jake Bittle for Grist

Viral

Stop your scroll for a screen cleaning 👅— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo)
pic.twitter.com/aDZSPkWN10 August 16, 2023

Thanks for reading!