US oil & gas lobby pushes massive ad campaign promoting fossil fuels

Subject : Environment

Section: Environmental law

In the news:

The United States has surpassed Qatar and Australia to become the world’s top natural gas exporter in 2023.
The biggest oil and gas lobby in the country — the American Petroleum Institute (API) — has launched an eight-figure ad campaign “Lights on Energy” to promote the need for fossil fuels among voters.

Details about the Campaign- “Lights on Energy”:

The campaign emphasizes the essential role of fossil fuels, framing them as crucial for national security and comfort.
It says that ‘Without access to reliable American energy provided by natural gas and oil, our nation’s security can be weakened, and its future put at risk’.
The per capita emissions of the US, like other developed countries, are among the highest in the world largely because of lifestyle or luxury emissions.
While India’s per capita emissions are markedly lower and are attributed to survival or subsistence emissions.
The campaign also downplays the environmental impact of methane emissions from oil and natural gas. Notably, it aligns with the concept of “transitional fuels” recognized in the Global Stocktake text, exploiting this as a justification for continued natural gas use.

Source: DTE