Back in the United States, a House congressional committee has uncovered documents revealing how oil company executives’ private actions contradicted their public promises to fight climate change. One set of emails obtained by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform shows how Exxon sought to undermine an oil industry pledge to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement. Other internal emails reveal Shell’s public pledge to go carbon-neutral amounted to corporate greenwashing. This week lawmakers heard testimony on how public relations firms worked to mislead the public over the climate crisis, while organizing phony grassroots campaigns to battle proposed regulations. This is environmental lawyer Raya Salter.

Raya Salter: “The climate crisis is an unprecedented global crime, and the smoking gun lies in the hands of Big Oil and Gas. They have known with precision for over 40 years that they were doing no less than creating a mass extinction event.”