Edelman's Ties to Fracking and Climate Denial Still Cause for Concern, New Petitions Show

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Edelman PRโ€™s credibility continues to wane as two separate petitions highlight the companyโ€™s ongoing support for the fossil fuel industry โ€“ in particular, its relationship as secretariat to the Task Force on Shaleย Gas.

Anti-fracking campaign group Talk Fracking have produced a statement and encouraged groups and individuals to pledge their support to stop the government listening to the Task Force, which is funded by Cuadrilla and other big companies in the oil and gasย industry.

The open letter was drawn up in reaction to the publication of the Task Forceโ€™s second report and its stubborn refusal to answer the organisationโ€™s letter, sent on 17th March, asking questions about the nature of the Task Forceโ€™s relationship with PR company Edelman, which used to be the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil andย Gas.

Edelman is known for its controversial work with oil giants Shell and Chevron. And, until very recently, its clients also included the American Petroleum Institute (API) โ€“ the oil industryโ€™s primary lobbyingย group.

Controlling theย Debate

Talk Frackingโ€™s letter argues that the UK Government should ignore the findings of the Task Force and should consider its reports nothing more than โ€œuntrustworthyย propagandaโ€.

Talk Fracking claims that the recent report, published on 15th July, is simply โ€œan attempt to reinforce the oil and gas industryโ€™s long-running rhetoric that the damage done by fracking overseas can be mitigated here in the UK should we employ โ€˜gold standard regulationsโ€™ that will somehow make safe an inherently risky, dirty, dangerousย practice.โ€

The Task Force for Shale Gas was established in September 2014. Lord Chris Smith, who was chair of the Environment Agency from 2008 to 2014, is the current chair of the Taskย Force.

Despite the Task Forceโ€™s latest report saying that fracking companies should disclose all chemicals used in the process, Joseph Corre, the founder of Talk Fracking, remainsย unconvinced.

โ€œWhen somebody says โ€˜Oh look here I am, I am going to be objective and I am going to say whatโ€™s fairโ€™ you have got to remember they are funded by the oil and gasย industry.โ€

โ€œAll this token horse play around them admitting when chemicals are being used is nonsense. This is all part of controlling the debateโ€ฆ What they really should be talking about is: what are they going to do with that? What are they going to do with the wastewater? Where is it going to go? Where are they actually going to get the water to go ahead with fracking in the first place? So these are all things that the Task Force, if they were objective, would be lookingย at.โ€

Tobaccoย Tactics

Talk Fracking fears that โ€œwith Edelman behind the Task Force on Shale Gas, PR tactics developed in the sixties to dismiss smoking health concerns are now being used in relation toย fracking.โ€

The PR firm has a long history of working with the tobacco industry. In the 1970s, it proposed an โ€œaggressiveโ€ public relations campaign to help tobacco company RJ Reynolds undermine perceptions of smokingโ€™s healthย hazards.

While Edelman now refuses to represent tobacco companies, it continues to work with fossil fuel companies and apply the same PRย tactics.

Brokenย Promises

In August 2014, some of the worldโ€™s biggest PR firms issued a declaration stating that they would not represent clients who deny manmade climate change or take campaigns seeking to block regulations limiting carbon pollution. Edelman eventually responded, confirming that โ€œwe do not accept client assignments that aim to deny climateย change.โ€

However, in November last year, Greenpeace Canada obtained details of an aggressive plan to recruit 35,000 online โ€˜activistsโ€™ to sway public opinion in favour of the TransCanada tar sandsย pipeline.

In February this year, it was thought that Edelman was making progress. It was unveiled in February that Edelman had gradually cut its ties with Americaโ€™s powerful oil lobbyist, the API, after it was reported that the subsidiary company (Blue Advertising) that handled the bulk of its advertising contracts with API โ€“ worth $327.4 million โ€“ is, eventually, to cut itself off from Edelmanโ€™s centralย operations.

But, fresh doubts have been cast on the credibility of its supposed change in attitude after four high-level executives have resigned from Edelman in the last two months because of the companyโ€™s refusal to stop working for the fossil fuelย industry.

In light of this news, campaigners have launched a separate petition to tell Edelman to stop โ€œpromotingโ€ climate change. The petition was launched on CREDO Action โ€“ a social change organisation funded by CREDO Mobile โ€“ which has over 27,000 signatories. It says: โ€œThe fact is, in the face of the overwhelming evidence on climate change, any attempt to continue promoting fossil fuels and fossil fuel expansion is outrightย denial.โ€

@benjameslucas

Photo: Cuadrilla via Creativeย Commons

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Ben Lucas is currently pursuing an Investigative Journalism Masterโ€™s degree at the City University of London. He has a particular interest in UK and international politics, economics and environmentalย issues.

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