"WASHINGTON - Public relations firms go beyond their traditional task of marketing to help their oil and gas clients fight off climate policies and mislead the public about climate change, U.S. congressional Democrats said at a hearing on Wednesday.

The House Natural Resource Committee's oversight panel, led by U.S. Representative Katie Porter of California, held a hearing about the role of public relations firm in preventing climate action and released a report detailing "deceptive" and "misleading" tactics they use for their client campaigns.

The report, which was based on its review of documents like submissions for industry awards, said PR firms helped oil companies fend off climate policies and mislead the public about their green claims by "engineering astroturf 'citizen' groups to advocate for industry interests and defeat legislative proposals, and using unscrupulous tactics to sabotage genuine policy solutions and attack community advocates.""

Valerie Volcovici reports for Reuters September 14, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"The Role of Public Relations Firms in Preventing Action on Climate Change" (House Natural Resources Committee) [3]

"Oil Executives Privately Contradicted Public Statements on Climate, Files Show" (New York Times) [4]

"Chevron Is Using Captain Planet and Batman Returns to Deflect Blame for Its Climate Denial" (Earther) [5]